Lahaina Bypass (Route 3000)

[kurumi]

About 2.5 miles of a bypass around Lahaina, designated state route 3000, are open to traffic (3.2 miles with access roads from HI 30).

A Hawaiian version of FreewayJim did a drive video in 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xR80SEJCaY. There's at least one HI 3000 sign posted, but I didn't notice others along the route. It's mainly a super 2 with some divided sections and one grade separation.

Portions opened in 2013, but the rest may not open until 2020 or later. The idea has apparently been on the books since the 1970s. More history and info here: http://www.lahainanews.com/page/content.detail/id/532114/The-Lahaina-Bypass--then-and-now.html?nav=19

[oscar]

Thanks! Is the HI 3000 marker shown on the video? I watched and didn't see it, but will have to try again in full-screen mode when my eyes are more awake.

EDIT:  I saw what looks like an HI 3000 route marker at around 4:37 of the video, at the left turn from Hokiokio Pl., onto the south end of the bypass.

I drove the first segment of the bypass, between Lahainaluna Rd. and Keawe St., in October 2013, soon before the second segment south from Lahainaluna Rd. to Hokiokio Pl. was opened to traffic. Back then, the first segment was unsigned, except for small white route number plates in milemarker assemblies. I figured it would remain unsigned, until the bypass was completed and route 30 could be moved to the bypass.

I've heard of some of the history of the bypass, and west Maui residents' complaints about the glacial pace of the project (which I thought were unfair comparisons -- some glaciers move faster). As the linked article notes, some progress is being made on completing the southern part of the bypass with a direct connection to HI 30, which could happen by 2020 or so, but the northern part (even the exact connection point to HI 30) is still up in the air.

If you were just on Maui, did you see the new bypass around the congested Dairy Road business district in Kahului, which AIUI is open from HI 380 (near the Wal-Mart) north to HI 36 and is planned to be completed to the airport in a few months? That bypass was to be designated as HI 3800.

[Rothman]

I know driving through Lahaina's a pain (my sisters used to live there), but I'm surprised that they actually built this thing, given that there's not much to the north of Lahaina.

[coatimundi]

I just got back from Maui, and made it a point to drive this. A few observations:
- The road is poorly marked. There are signs for it at both ends along HI 30, and one at Lahainaluna Road, all saying "To 3000", and a small green sign at the southern end stating "Lahaina Bypass", but not enough to really make it clear to tourists what it is. The traffic signal is signed "Hokiokio Place". I drove it on a Saturday and saw all of 4 cars in both directions. 30 was not clear either: traffic was crawling through at about 20mph from near Olowalu.
- I don't believe the designation actually makes it back to HI 30 on either end. The southern end looks to be an old ranch road that was repaved and now has a 20mph speed limit (it goes to 45 once you make the left onto 3000), while the northern end is clearly an older neighborhood street that has a 25mph speed limit.
- It's a beautiful piece of roadway. Very nice pavement, clearly following the standards and clearly meant to accommodate most vehicles. I probably saved 15 minutes by taking this through on our way to Napili despite it veering out of the way slightly.
- There is room and grading to make it a separated roadway. The Lahainaluna Road "interchange" has a bridge that extends more than it needs to, but there would be a few sections that would have to be newly constructed.

[oscar]

- I don't believe the designation actually makes it back to HI 30 on either end. The southern end looks to be an old ranch road that was repaved and now has a 20mph speed limit (it goes to 45 once you make the left onto 3000), while the northern end is clearly an older neighborhood street that has a 25mph speed limit.

The HI 3000 designation doesn't include, even temporarily, the local roads between HI 3000 and HI 30. As noted above, extensions are planned at both ends of HI 3000, that would connect it to HI 30.

[citrus]

Reviving this thread years later, I just got back from Maui, and the bypass has been extended south to reach HI 30 on the south end. Googling shows that it opened in April 2018.

The road is still relatively poorly marked as HI 3000, but you end up on it if you're traveling northbound on HI 30: the main road veers right onto the bypass at a HI 3000 sign, and you're on it. There's no access to continue on HI 30, so that route is now discontinuous, northbound. Access to Lahaina itself now means making a left off the bypass at some point. Southbound HI 30 is still continuous, though the roadway bends inland to meet the bypass at a 90 degree angle. When I was traveling through the area, Google Maps recommended staying on HI 30 southbound through the area rather than taking the bypass, so perhaps it doesn't really save any time unless there's a ton of traffic.

[oscar]

I was on Maui last month, and covered the extended HI 3000 and its connections to HI 30.

I agree that continuing on HI 30 NB is tricky, due to the 30-3000 intersection being only a RIRO (right in, right out) rather than a full intersection, with no left turn permitted in either direction. Northbound travelers, determined to clinch HI 30 on that part of the journey rather than wait for the return trip, can take HI 3000 to one of the intersections (first one is Kai Hele Ku Street), and take a not-prohibited but still awkward U-turn, then turn right on HI 30. Right after you leave HI 3000 SB, you'll see an HI 30 marker confirming you're back on NB HI 30.

Less compulsive people can just take Kai Hele Ku or another side road from HI 3000 to get to HI 30.  The intersections with those short side roads all have "ALT" HI 30 route markers pointing you to HI 30, though no such markers on the side roads themselves, or other indication that they've been added to the state highway system.

As you note, HI 30 is still continuous SB, going to the RIRO (after passing a stranded segment of old HI 30, now an informal beach parking area), then merging onto HI 30/3000 SB toward central Maui.

HI 3000's south end seems to include all the new Lahaina Bypass pavement, starting where it peels away from the old HI 30 alignment. That is now a closed intersection, with a locked gate blocking direct access to the stranded old HI 30 segment. For Travel Mapping purposes, I've treated the < 0.5 mile of new pavement between the closed intersection and the RIRO as an implied HI 30/3000 multiplex. I might adjust that once I can get updated straight-line diagrams from Hawaii DOT.

Google Maps is correct that the Lahaina Bypass (current north end connected to HI 30 by Keawe St.) usually doesn't save much time. It does bypass stoplights in downtown Lahaina, and makes the drive though downtown less congested and more pleasant than it used to be. But the Bypass will be more useful once it's extended northward, re-connecting to HI 30 south of Kaanapali.