61 thoughts on “Hawaii Highways Closed For Accidents, Infuriating Residents and Visitors”
Roy
Got to say,there have been times I have worried about catching a morning flight out of Lihue. There’s always a lot of traffic backup coming from Poipu into Lihue in the early morning hours. It did not used to be that way. But in recent years, it’s been very congested.
Aloha
If it’s your loved one trapped in a vehicle accident, you don’t want the rescue personnel rushing to get them out to open traffic up. Sometimes extrications are dangerous, complicated and difficult and to ensure the patient’s life may take time. As a career firefighter for over 27 years, I can tell you that stopping traffic is the only safe way, too often opening up lanes leads to responders and apparatus hit by gawking drivers not paying attention as they pass through accident scenes.
If you’re a visitor you should know the potential issues of where your going. If your local, well…
Just… wow. People’inconvenienced’ because you missed your flight(s). Plane isn’t going anywhere if the flight crew is stuck in the same traffic. Between traffic accidents and brush fires, roads get closed. Big deal. Wait it out, turn around and go have lunch. Reschedule your flights. Stay another day. Hit the beach. Show some Aloha and be thankful no one got seriously injured. Feel more Aloha for the residents trying to get to work to cater to you… the tourist
Hate to say it, if only because I know I’ll get shouted down for any of 100 reasons-yes I know tourists are bringing their luggage/unfamiliar with the area. Yes I know how warm it can and that people are with the kids/going to work etc etc etc yes I understand time crunches. But at some point there has to be a line drawn somewhere to where it is understood that the problem is that there are too many cars on the road, and that alternative methods of travel need to be thought of. Bicycle especially. I did live on Maui and did use this as one of my modes of travel. The issues listed above are not going to magically disappear. If anything they will continue to get even worse.
I used to walk, take the public bus or occasional lyft or weekly car rental for most of my time in Maui for 3 years before buying a Tesla and even now, I mostly use my car for work and shopping. Otherwise, i walk to the ocean and swim or paddle and wish I could make it all the way to Molokai! (PS: not a joke!)
Wow there used to be a paddle race from Maui to Molokai? Kihei Canoe Club folks….I am not a water baby(ouch) but I believe I’ve heard of this. Left Maui before COVID so don’t know what is going on in 2023.
People who make it sound so easy to rebook a flight and stay another day have obviously never left the island or someone else took care of their travel arrangements …most of those people coming here do have jobs back on the mainland and this is the only vacation they take for a year
The Maui accident was on the only road that connects all of West Maui, Lahaina, Kaanapali, Honokowai , Kahana, Napili and Kapalua to the airport and the Maui hospital.
3 ambulances navigated through the traffic jam.
Many West Maui residents and visitors missed their flights and other commitments.
Well, there is the scenic route just North of Kapalua leading to Kahului …however, it’s not for the faint at heart and the only reason it’s not too dangerous is because not many people drive it.
I have to say that driving standards in Hawaii are very mixed. I am always surprised by the number of folks shooting red lights and paying no attention to speed limits, equally some fearful drivers doing 10 miles an hour signaling a left turn and then turning right. Yes the dumb tourists stop on a curve to take photos too. Perhaps as there is a campaign for ocean safety we should have one for road safety. Far better to reduce accidents than find ways round them. Oh and as an afterthought road safety applies to scooters and pedestrians too. If you leap off the kerb in the dark you can guess what will happen. But let us do it with a kind campaign not enforcement muscle as they do in the mainland. Don’t drink and drive and don’t drive dumb
Wow! This is not something you can plan for. I can’t believe we didn’t hear more about this, but is shows we need alternative routes to the airport from West Maui to Kahului, unless they add some flights from the Kapalua Airport to neighboring islands.
Not to mention traffic stopped for filming – even on Federally funded roads (the other 49 states see fit to comply with the law, and don’t shut down interstates…).
20 years ago a tractor trailer rig flipped over with wall board. At that time I suggested to rebuild and use the old Pali road as an emergency route. At least traffic would flow slowly. Nobody listened! Auwe! History repeats itself and still nobody listens!
This time of year it isn’t all that uncommon for traffic to crawl across the pali for no apparent reason other than more cars than the road can seemingly handle. Season and time of day make a difference. Once the traffic stops altogether, or stops and you can see they are doing 1-way somewhere ahead, that means there’s been an accident (or there’s a brush fire), and you are going to be there a while. It is inconvenient, but spare a thought for whoever was involved in that accident. Then you can be annoyed about missing your flight, which is also very inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as the people injured in the accident find it.
Two hours stuck in traffic and I think one of the lucky ones to get past the crane as it was setting up to move the dump truck. Just made our 1:15 flight to LAX on Delta which was fully sold, but half empty because of the accident. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
And candidly, kinda wish we had missed our flight because now we are back in the cold..lol
Great time in Maui. Thank you for your hospitality! Mahalo!
Last April people were driving worse then normal. Since COVID people’s attitudes are scary. Not going to Maui this year. Continuing problems. Some people some drought related and just not following law. Smoking drinking on beach garbage everywhere. Beaches along roadsides. People not respecting they are visitors.
The tourists are complaining because it took too long to turn over a huge dump truck that required a crane to remove?? It is an island with one real road to the west side. Ask the locals how they feel about being stuck in traffic everyday because Maui is extremely overpopulated and there are far too many visitors in rental cars clogging up the roads looking at whales or whatever. Two days ago I witnessed a bunch of tourists parked mauka of the highway and running across the road in front of cars to see whales and sunset on the Pali! So ridiculous and will cause plenty accidents like this one. But the tourists are inconvenienced…
Not all states manage traffic well – have you ever been on I-95 south of Washington, DC? The Commonwealth of Virginia does not know how to manage traffic. Toll roads that run in one direction cannot be changed if there is an accident in the other direction. Rather be stuck on a road in Hawaii than on a road with 3 lanes sitting still.
Hawaii is made up of islands, so finite amount of land suitable for building roads, finite amount of money for building new roads or maintaining the ones we have, population has grown faster than the capacity of the infrastructure.
Efficiency is never a priority for public investment. Only when crisis proportions are reached do taxpayers support investment in efficient infrastructure. And the virtue signaling about the relative pain of those injured to the frustrations of those inconvenienced is just plain divisive, serving only to show how one is more compassionate than the next guy. Let that finger-wagging stuff go … seriously.
If you’re caught in of these traffic stops then call wherever you’re going and explain and chances are you are not the only one. Anyone living in Hawaii knows things happen and that’s part of the privilege of living here. Turn the car off and hopefully you’re in a beautiful spot and make friends with people who were strangers before.
We left Kaanapali for Kihei at 9:30am Saturday and we too were stuck in traffic 2 hours. As we approached the accident and were stopped by the crane and flat bed truck we asked the police officer if anyone was seriously injured and thankfully not. That made us feel better but we still felt bad for those missing flights We were lucky enough to get through as they were setting up the crane, barely and probably one of the last. Three hours later we passed the dump truck on the flatbed driving with the crane so it must have been a long extraction. Again, sorry for those people unaware of traffic. Things to learn from your Beat! Thank you, Debbie
If it wasn’t for the whinny tourists the Hawaiian economy would bust and 75% of its population would have to leave the Islands looking for work With no whining tourists paying the exorbitant prices for hotels, rental cars, activities and tourist taxes, the State government would need to increase sales, property, real estates and unemployment taxes for all its residents. How much did the people and businesses thrive when Hawaii banned tourism during COVID? How many of the small businesses went bust when the whinny tourists didn’t visit. Wait to your Governor passes the law to tax all visitors to the state at the airport $150.00 each. Those whinny visitors will find there’s many other cheaper and more appreciative locations with sun beaches
It is inconvenient and annoying but it is difficult to have alternate routes on islands. On the mainland, there are no excuses for no alternate routes. Living 45 miles south of Washington DC we have that issue everyday. Some days we can take the trip up to the DC area and we are there in less than an hour. But most times, you have add an hour or two to your time still miss your flight out of Reagan National. It is miserable no matter where you live.
A few years ago we got caught in one of those Maui Highway accident closures as well on the way to the airport from Kahana. After calls to Alaska we were able to get a later flight but we were told when we called that some of the flight crew was also caught in the 4 hour delay in getting to the airport.
Got to say,there have been times I have worried about catching a morning flight out of Lihue. There’s always a lot of traffic backup coming from Poipu into Lihue in the early morning hours. It did not used to be that way. But in recent years, it’s been very congested.
Aloha
If it’s your loved one trapped in a vehicle accident, you don’t want the rescue personnel rushing to get them out to open traffic up. Sometimes extrications are dangerous, complicated and difficult and to ensure the patient’s life may take time. As a career firefighter for over 27 years, I can tell you that stopping traffic is the only safe way, too often opening up lanes leads to responders and apparatus hit by gawking drivers not paying attention as they pass through accident scenes.
If you’re a visitor you should know the potential issues of where your going. If your local, well…
Just… wow. People’inconvenienced’ because you missed your flight(s). Plane isn’t going anywhere if the flight crew is stuck in the same traffic. Between traffic accidents and brush fires, roads get closed. Big deal. Wait it out, turn around and go have lunch. Reschedule your flights. Stay another day. Hit the beach. Show some Aloha and be thankful no one got seriously injured. Feel more Aloha for the residents trying to get to work to cater to you… the tourist
Hate to say it, if only because I know I’ll get shouted down for any of 100 reasons-yes I know tourists are bringing their luggage/unfamiliar with the area. Yes I know how warm it can and that people are with the kids/going to work etc etc etc yes I understand time crunches. But at some point there has to be a line drawn somewhere to where it is understood that the problem is that there are too many cars on the road, and that alternative methods of travel need to be thought of. Bicycle especially. I did live on Maui and did use this as one of my modes of travel. The issues listed above are not going to magically disappear. If anything they will continue to get even worse.
I used to walk, take the public bus or occasional lyft or weekly car rental for most of my time in Maui for 3 years before buying a Tesla and even now, I mostly use my car for work and shopping. Otherwise, i walk to the ocean and swim or paddle and wish I could make it all the way to Molokai! (PS: not a joke!)
Wow there used to be a paddle race from Maui to Molokai? Kihei Canoe Club folks….I am not a water baby(ouch) but I believe I’ve heard of this. Left Maui before COVID so don’t know what is going on in 2023.
People who make it sound so easy to rebook a flight and stay another day have obviously never left the island or someone else took care of their travel arrangements …most of those people coming here do have jobs back on the mainland and this is the only vacation they take for a year
The Maui accident was on the only road that connects all of West Maui, Lahaina, Kaanapali, Honokowai , Kahana, Napili and Kapalua to the airport and the Maui hospital.
3 ambulances navigated through the traffic jam.
Many West Maui residents and visitors missed their flights and other commitments.
Well, there is the scenic route just North of Kapalua leading to Kahului …however, it’s not for the faint at heart and the only reason it’s not too dangerous is because not many people drive it.
I have to say that driving standards in Hawaii are very mixed. I am always surprised by the number of folks shooting red lights and paying no attention to speed limits, equally some fearful drivers doing 10 miles an hour signaling a left turn and then turning right. Yes the dumb tourists stop on a curve to take photos too. Perhaps as there is a campaign for ocean safety we should have one for road safety. Far better to reduce accidents than find ways round them. Oh and as an afterthought road safety applies to scooters and pedestrians too. If you leap off the kerb in the dark you can guess what will happen. But let us do it with a kind campaign not enforcement muscle as they do in the mainland. Don’t drink and drive and don’t drive dumb
Wow! This is not something you can plan for. I can’t believe we didn’t hear more about this, but is shows we need alternative routes to the airport from West Maui to Kahului, unless they add some flights from the Kapalua Airport to neighboring islands.
Not to mention traffic stopped for filming – even on Federally funded roads (the other 49 states see fit to comply with the law, and don’t shut down interstates…).
Travel at your own risk!!!!!!
20 years ago a tractor trailer rig flipped over with wall board. At that time I suggested to rebuild and use the old Pali road as an emergency route. At least traffic would flow slowly. Nobody listened! Auwe! History repeats itself and still nobody listens!
This time of year it isn’t all that uncommon for traffic to crawl across the pali for no apparent reason other than more cars than the road can seemingly handle. Season and time of day make a difference. Once the traffic stops altogether, or stops and you can see they are doing 1-way somewhere ahead, that means there’s been an accident (or there’s a brush fire), and you are going to be there a while. It is inconvenient, but spare a thought for whoever was involved in that accident. Then you can be annoyed about missing your flight, which is also very inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as the people injured in the accident find it.
Two hours stuck in traffic and I think one of the lucky ones to get past the crane as it was setting up to move the dump truck. Just made our 1:15 flight to LAX on Delta which was fully sold, but half empty because of the accident. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
And candidly, kinda wish we had missed our flight because now we are back in the cold..lol
Great time in Maui. Thank you for your hospitality! Mahalo!
Last April people were driving worse then normal. Since COVID people’s attitudes are scary. Not going to Maui this year. Continuing problems. Some people some drought related and just not following law. Smoking drinking on beach garbage everywhere. Beaches along roadsides. People not respecting they are visitors.
The tourists are complaining because it took too long to turn over a huge dump truck that required a crane to remove?? It is an island with one real road to the west side. Ask the locals how they feel about being stuck in traffic everyday because Maui is extremely overpopulated and there are far too many visitors in rental cars clogging up the roads looking at whales or whatever. Two days ago I witnessed a bunch of tourists parked mauka of the highway and running across the road in front of cars to see whales and sunset on the Pali! So ridiculous and will cause plenty accidents like this one. But the tourists are inconvenienced…
Other states manage traffic, what is wrong with Hawaii?
Not all states manage traffic well – have you ever been on I-95 south of Washington, DC? The Commonwealth of Virginia does not know how to manage traffic. Toll roads that run in one direction cannot be changed if there is an accident in the other direction. Rather be stuck on a road in Hawaii than on a road with 3 lanes sitting still.
I am from Northern Virginia and you are 100% correct.
Hawaii is made up of islands, so finite amount of land suitable for building roads, finite amount of money for building new roads or maintaining the ones we have, population has grown faster than the capacity of the infrastructure.
Efficiency is never a priority for public investment. Only when crisis proportions are reached do taxpayers support investment in efficient infrastructure. And the virtue signaling about the relative pain of those injured to the frustrations of those inconvenienced is just plain divisive, serving only to show how one is more compassionate than the next guy. Let that finger-wagging stuff go … seriously.
If you’re caught in of these traffic stops then call wherever you’re going and explain and chances are you are not the only one. Anyone living in Hawaii knows things happen and that’s part of the privilege of living here. Turn the car off and hopefully you’re in a beautiful spot and make friends with people who were strangers before.
We left Kaanapali for Kihei at 9:30am Saturday and we too were stuck in traffic 2 hours. As we approached the accident and were stopped by the crane and flat bed truck we asked the police officer if anyone was seriously injured and thankfully not. That made us feel better but we still felt bad for those missing flights We were lucky enough to get through as they were setting up the crane, barely and probably one of the last. Three hours later we passed the dump truck on the flatbed driving with the crane so it must have been a long extraction. Again, sorry for those people unaware of traffic. Things to learn from your Beat! Thank you, Debbie
Even highway accident cleanups in Hawaii run on HST–Hawaiian Slow Time!!
Just another reality that Maui is over populated with whining tourist,, been here 3 months for work, can wait to leave.
If it wasn’t for the whinny tourists the Hawaiian economy would bust and 75% of its population would have to leave the Islands looking for work With no whining tourists paying the exorbitant prices for hotels, rental cars, activities and tourist taxes, the State government would need to increase sales, property, real estates and unemployment taxes for all its residents. How much did the people and businesses thrive when Hawaii banned tourism during COVID? How many of the small businesses went bust when the whinny tourists didn’t visit. Wait to your Governor passes the law to tax all visitors to the state at the airport $150.00 each. Those whinny visitors will find there’s many other cheaper and more appreciative locations with sun beaches
It is inconvenient and annoying but it is difficult to have alternate routes on islands. On the mainland, there are no excuses for no alternate routes. Living 45 miles south of Washington DC we have that issue everyday. Some days we can take the trip up to the DC area and we are there in less than an hour. But most times, you have add an hour or two to your time still miss your flight out of Reagan National. It is miserable no matter where you live.
A few years ago we got caught in one of those Maui Highway accident closures as well on the way to the airport from Kahana. After calls to Alaska we were able to get a later flight but we were told when we called that some of the flight crew was also caught in the 4 hour delay in getting to the airport.