61 thoughts on “Hawaii Highways Closed For Accidents, Infuriating Residents and Visitors”
Luke B
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.
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.