Since the 1970’s, the idea for a bypass road inland of Lihue has been on the Kauai County radar. Have we ever mentioned that things don’t usually happen very quickly here? The idea would be to allow southwest and eastbound traffic to flow away from Lihue.
The goal, of course, is primarily to help reduce traffic gridlock on what is affectionately called the “Kapaa Crawl” that leads between Kauai’s east side and the southwest parts of the island. This is the worst traffic on the island, and it isn’t unusual to sometimes spend up to one extra hour for that reason. In addition, it is considered a safety hazard due to emergency vehicles that can get stuck trying to get through the bottleneck and the lack of means for evacuation.
The proposed 5-mile bypass road would cross prior sugar cane hauling roads.
Nearly a decade ago, the head of County Engineering said that, if and when built, “It would probably become one of the most important regional connections.”
The county, using state funds, appears set to undertake yet another feasibility study in preparation for a new road. It’s been about ten years since the last one was conducted. That called for the bypass road to run either near the Lihue airport or from Hanamaulu and end up near the Kauai Beach Resort. We aren’t sure that a specific route was ever finalized.
The previous study contemplated the project as either one or two lanes in either direction. This round, however, only one lane in each direction is being discussed. There have been parallel plans for a multi-use path for pedestrians and bicycles.
The last time around, the estimated cost of construction was between $90M and 120M. In today’s dollars, that would be $114m to $152M. It was previously anticipated that the road would be constructed in phases due to the high cost.
Ten years ago, County Engineering said it would take “many years” for county, state, and federal governments to complete all the studies needed and build the road. Even then, there was no unanimous community approval for the idea. We can only imagine that it will be worse this time around.
$800k approved to reexamine a Lihue Mauka Bypass road.
The first $400k will determine the feasibility of a “Two-lane road that would bypass the congested areas of Lihue and provide a more direct route between the east and southwest sides of the island.” The investment is to find the best route, analyze further, and ultimately devise a plan to fund the project.
If all goes as planned, the money may be available by fall, and the concept study completed within two years. After that, environmental studies and design and engineering planning will come if it continues to proceed.
The Kauai County Council voted unanimously to support the project and was advised it would “take a lot of time.” One council member estimated that to be no less than ten years.
Shared Use Path and Access Plan to also be evaluated.
That is to interconnect multi-use paths and trails and further enhance options. The second $400k would be allocated to the Planning Department for that purpose. Kauai County seeks to devise what will become a master plan.
There’s some hope that more than just another plan may occur this time.
What would your recommendation be to improve traffic on Kauai?
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Rework the Kapa’a Bypass to go in both directions and be the primary road with priority over the main road that cuts through town.
I must admit that the only thing I didn’t like when I visited Kauai 20 years ago was that there was only one road around the island. That said, resorts should be required to have shuttles from the airports and if tours would be less expensive, tourists wouldn’t need a car. Then you need to encourage pubic transportation, one thing I loved on Oahu!
What I’ve seen over the years: when you build more roads it brings development of the surrounding land this equals more cars, population, possibly higher cost of living and higher property taxes to pay for all of this. There goes the traffic solving issue, it’s an never ending vicious cycle. It would probably take about 20yrs to see all these changes. Be careful what we wish for, it’s a carrot on a stick, always reaching but never able grasp it. “Welcome to the human Family”😅
Grab some professional from the Northeast(philly),they had a overpass collapse on I-95 and had it repaired in a week just a example and since Kauai Braggs it’s made 200+million a month for the last year And????lay off the bandaiding the whole island at once and do from point A to b one section at a time realizing that people have to go to work,not waste gas,destroying your vehicle etc. No body wants the the infrastructure to grow like it did, but off course it did.. Then again according to the county of Kauai we’ve made 2.4 billion dollars in a year,so get some outside help it’s obvious the D.o.t. is stumped the roads are like Costa Ricas in the 90s except we have alot more money??? Where’s the Money going???bring in the pros please
Free busses and shuttles for the tourists in between the touristy spots will make more room for the locals on the roads.
So excited for Coco Palms. Maybe as a good gesture the hotel investment Utah grp could give the state just enough land to help the improvement of that hwy so they can add another lane in both directions. This would help when hotel opens. Just a thought.
And of course you’d still need pedestrian lights for certain areas or build a pedestrian overpass. Way less time and often for pedestrians. By ABC downtown Kapa’a a 4-way (to all four corners) pedestrian crossing would make it quicker and more efficient for pedestrians and vehicles.
Let’s get rid of the crawl. It’s time to grow up and move.
One way north through Kapa’a on the existing highway, and south using the bypass road. We can do it now to all alleviate a lot of traffic issues. Traffic will flow much better and a lot more quickly. Imagine no stop lights headed north – no need.
This will also buy us time to put into place other solutions.
Back in the horse and buggy days, the island doctor lived in Waimea and used the the road that I understand ran along the mountain up behind the jail and then to Wailua River. My understanding is that land above and adjacent to the jail is Hawaiian Homes land. How about a Cooperative road project with HH, following the historical route, so it would create better access for them too, when they start putting infrastructure in place for future development?Dotty
We have been visiting Kauai for over 10 years, staying at Islander on the Beach. The problem has existed for every one of these years. There is no cure so just live with it.
Let’s not go from one extreme to the other. I don’t think any resident of Kauai wants to copy Oahu! The only positive there is the public bus and many areas where you can bike and walk without needing a car! Luckily, creating a 4 to 6 lane highway on Kauai will not happen in our lifetime!
Grand Plan, and overdue already. Where could one lay eyes on a map of the rough proposed route?
Not sure this has been mentioned, but, how about an elevated rail system? You already have the politicians available to approve it! lol
A senic tollroad along Powerline Trial from Pvil to Omao with exits at all the logical places. It would probably have to be federally built & privately maintained along the lines of the Tri-state tollway (294).
In the short term and until this inland bipass road becomes a reality, (and who wouldn’t welcome this ??) I would like to see traffic controllers on point duty during this daily ‘primetime’ crawl…
That has always been an area we avoid at certain times of day.
Limiting the number of tourist is not the answer. Kauai has no industry, except for the military and coffee. Sugar cane has gone, so Kauai relies on tourists for income
Restrict this trade and how many restaurants will close, how many hotels. How many stores, how many jobs.
I’m a 16 year Wailua resident and I fail to understand how this bypass will effect the “crawl” in Kapaa? Usually, thank goodness, there is a break in traffic between the Wailua bridge and Hanamaulu Lihue bound turn to Walmart. The bottleneck is from the Wailua bridge to Safeway in Wailua. We have a new lane to open one of these months. Things do move slowly here and I’m sure people anywhere know road work always takes time, no different here.
I strongly agree with this person!
How about a wider one lane road in each direction with a striped center lane for emergency vehicles. It would also help with traffic flow around any accidents.
Hawaii wants a right of way width for even a 3 lane road to be a minimum of 120’ and my quick review of the Road is between 75’and 125’. This will be most difficult part of upgrading unless someone can convince every owner along the road to give up strips of their land to make way for expanded roadways.
Having experienced the “Kapaa Crawl” when I visited Kauai last year, I think the bypass should have 2 lanes in each direction. Two lanes in each direction will make it easier for emergency vehicles to pass, and for possible evacuations. Aloha!
Kauai is a two lane blacktop.
As I recall Val Knudsen proposed a toll road decades ago.
For decades we have needed belt roads, and spoken up. The canefield roads are there. I feel it is time to move on from “examining,thinking, exploring” these ideas. Plan the belt roads, fund them and build them.
Have the highway engineers do any studies (concept) quickly
and have 3 to 4 lanes, dedicated left & right turn lanes where needed. More lanes when the crews are there is better & safer than having to add lanes in the future. Mahalo
As Kaua’i continues to “ Kick the can down the road”. Just keep spending money on “Studies”, but get nothing done. Very Sad!
If the county builds a two lane by-pass, as proposed, the emergency services (fire, police and ambulance) will still not have room room to get through a traffic jams. Emergency vehicles have to wait for drivers to be able to get out of the way. This is only important if one of a loved one is waiting for an ambulance or the fire truck is trying to get to your house to put out a fire. Has the county officials checked with emergency services for a recommendation? Also, when workers are maintaining the road side, one lane is usual completely blocked causing delays. If two lanes were needed 10 to 15 years ago, the county is solving yesterdays problem and not looking to the future. Vision is looking to solve problems in the future.
Aloha Rob+Jeff I was thinking of a bypass route that would go between by the college over the came roads through the mountains and come out at anahola. It would be a straight shot over to the west side and ease up the congestion before it starts at the north end of Kapaa. What do you think? When I was just there 2 wks ago, my girlfriends car overheated and lost power because she was stuck in that traffic for over an hour. Thank goodness she wasn’t driving me to the airport for a flight home, but I was returning my rental car. Fortunately God came through and we made it on time.
Hi Debra.
Thanks. Not sure we’ve heard of that before, although a circumnavigation road was talked about years ago and rejected. This seems like the most likely plan, and even then…
Aloha.
I lived in the South of France and they built tunnels and bridges a long time ago …when you drive from Nice to Monaco, you can choose to stay on the lower road (closest to the ocean, middle road (most popular) and the high road which has the most beautiful views, since it’s on top of the mountains. In addition, they have excellent bus service and a train that goes along the lower road.
Even one of the above would be great! I live on Maui and love the by-pass, hoping it will expand. I own a Tesla and I am very much into protecting the environment, but don’t think it’s done by limiting roads. Just get the SUV’s off island!
Is 10 years Hawaiian time the same as Mainland time? 😉 Kind of like Hawaiian 5ft surf is the same as 10ft Mainland surf. And that is actually True.
By-pass: just spend the money for studies and planning on straightening the existing bypass road and extending it to two lines each way past the roundabout. Create a new roundabout at Kiheo highway intersection.
Hi. Been coming to Kauai for 40 years & traffic has always been bad . Hope my grand kids will see the improvements 😂Aloha. Andy S
Don’t hold your breath! I’ve only been here on Kauai since 2016, and I have yet to see ANY “highway” improvements under any politicians in office. 1st, why is the main highway around (well, almost around) the island a Two Lane road? With over 70,000 population now and tourists returning after the pandemic, a complete overhaul of our roads is way overdue! Yes, the Kapaa crawl b.s. needs to be rerouted (with double lanes each way) to accomodate daily commuters and tourists alike. The western half of Kauai badly needs an updated highway as well for residents who must commute from the west side into Lihue, Kapaa, and Princeville daily to get to work. Why can’t we have 4- or 6-lane (each direction) highways like the H-1 & H-2 on Oahu?
Are you kidding?
No Thank You on the 4-6 lane each way Oahu mainland type highways. We live Kaua’i because we do not have that. This goes with ‘Pave Paradise and Put Up A Parking Lot’ which a lot of highways become – highways are built and the people come to clog them up. There’s a lot that can be done to make traffic flow better.
Having been raised in Hawaii, I sense a Mainland air about Beat of Hawaii !
You will soon learn, and this is very true for any change in Hawaii…. it doesn’t happen. The agent of change becomes a target of one or multiple groups that can never be completely satisfied with the proposed changes. And then the environmental groups step in an sue or contest the permits. In the end, nothing happens.
Why is traffic so bad on Kauhi? Because there is no commonality in what to do about it. And Hawaii continues to have a No Wiki Wiki attitude about any change. Aloha
Thank you Keoni for your honest and accurate explanation. I’ve heard, and am sure it’s true, that when the Hanalei bridge was replaced not too many years ago that HDOT wanted to put in a two-lane bridge so you didn’t have to wait to alternate traffic to cross the Hanalei river, but that there was no support from the local community to do so, and so they replaced the bridge with one that was just like the old one. Even though the local community is the most “inconvenienced” by it, they are the ones who most support it the way it is. I admit that I still sometimes say to myself “how can this possibly take This long?” – like finishing up the project in front of the Coco Palms!!! – but it’s just the reality of the way things are. 🙂
Thank goodness the Hanalei bridge is still one lane – that’s part of the charm, the magic of Kaua’i and Hanalei. Kick back, relax, enjoy life. No need rush. North Shore. Or no need go there if it’s an issue for someone.
Why not make it a toll road. If the road went north of Kaapa then the time saving would be enormous. If a toll was charged then potentially it could be a 4 lane highway, which would allow emergency vehicles a safe and fast route.
Based on the increased traffic and the length of time for construction, a two lane road would almost be obsolete before completion
That is what the Knudsen family proposed back in the 80’s.
Create a limit of tourists allowed working with airlines, hotels, resorts. Kauai purchased more rental cars much to the chagrin if a lot of locals, perhaps that was inviting more people in. If they can’t get a car, can’t go. I remember those days when it was difficult to rent a car. Traffic has been so bad for so long, I think a road is putting a bandaid on the core problem.