Hawaii

[Short n Swift]

Yesterday, HDOT opened Pa'akea Road after long delays with land ownership. The road is now upgraded to current standards, although I'm not sure about the bumpy section that used to be privately owned yet. A very, very big step towards helping westside residents get around. Now when something happens over on Farrington near Nanakuli, you'll have another option to avoid the chaos, as long as it doesn't happen further down near the valley.

https://hidot.hawaii.gov/blog/2025/10/01/paakea-road-opens-october-1/

There's still a few more final touches that need to be done, like the railings, but as for now, the road is good to go.

One mile south of the newly opened road is the incomplete Mohihi Street (#10 on the list I made a few weeks back). After the Lahaina wildfires and the recent tsunami warning, I'd imagine that this general area would be a nightmare for evacuation and a potential "ground zero" in the event of disaster (ex. Kuhua Camp), especially with how old this area is. I found that back in 2015 this in fact was considered, but it never left the "recommended" actions group.

[Short n Swift]

Update: Major news. Phase 3 of the Kapolei Interchange Complex is just a few weeks away from opening based on what I've observed. All roads seem to be up and ready and signage has recently come up. It does seem like this is a half opening as they'll open the southbound exit "ramp SA",  then demolish the existing Kalaeloa Blvd exit before the final touches on the northeastbound entrance "RAMP SB" are done. The construction plans are a bit confusing, but it does seem like we may see Phase 3, or at least half of it, open before the end of the year. Here are some shots I took at the site:


A shot of the new road as well as the stub that'll be extended in Phase 4 (unfunded). Lights still aren't on yet but that will change.


An exit gore is already up where the new exit should be despite it not even being open (the one at existing 1A was removed). This shot and the next two are blurry, apologies for that



More signs are up with the Phase 2 text covered up (or the Phase 3 text, more likely). Harbor Access Road is half a mile ahead of Kalaeloa Blvd, that first sign should say "1/2 mile" instead of 1 mile once the covering is gone. I don't see the new signs that are being made from scratch yet, so it's just the signs that already existed.

Because HDOT dats why, plans can't pick one font to use on a project let alone a single sign. It gives PennDOT's "President Biden Expressway" vibes if they don't match the FHWA font on "Wakea Street" and the "/4" on the first line. To be fair though, Phase 2 was under construction when they killed off Clearview.

Google Maps already has the outline for phases 3 and 4 (the complex mauka of the freeway).  There isn't really much going on in Phase 3, just half of the Harbor interchange.

Edit 1/1/26: Still nothing about this section, nor Harbor Access Road itself which was supposed to be open to some capacity in mid 2025. I hope Google fixes the nonexistent interchange here because it's taking you to roads that aren't even open yet.

[cahwyguy]

Reading the news today: Some updates on the extension of the Lahaina Bypass: https://beatofhawaii.com/west-maui-has-one-way-in-and-out-that-is-finally-changing/

[roadman65]

I saw on on Jim Cantori's Instagram that Hawaii Route 11 is closed in Punaluu due to heavy rains washing mud across the roadway.

[Max Rockatansky]

The washout on Hawaii Route 11 was near Pahala:

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/08/16/hawaii-island-flooding-town-isolated-swept-away-resident-rescued-after-lala/?fbclid=IwZnRzaATv8kBwZG9mBWZkaWQWUMrEQnq1fWvfZDCdV6FVUAVRYuoF4WV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR5rch1DM4kirkYnxTTycn8Iv1O1zj53ZjdCwKceQy8FznHBGYBTVWq6mv_s-w_aem_m2zqWrq-R1uKevZjqBwyXQ

[bing101]

Here is a cool tour of Hawaii in 2000.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^^^ THAT IS NOT UP-TO-DATE

[bing101]

^^^^^ THAT IS NOT UP-TO-DATE

True its old school roadgeek tours! 

[oscar]

^^^^^ THAT IS NOT UP-TO-DATE

Not much changes with roads in Hawaii. In particular, most of the recent changes on Oahu have been in the island's southwestern corner, apparently not covered in the videos.