You might be excused for not noticing the little staff-written item posted last night in the Star-Advertiser’s “breaking news” section. The headline: “City hoping to secure slope that has closed Kaneohe road.”
Two things to note. First, the “road” has been closed since a retaining wall failed on December 26, resulting in a landslide. So it’s hard to figure how this got into the “breaking news” list. Second, it’s not just any old road in Kaneohe, a neighborhood where small, little-traveled back roads are common. No, this is Kamehameha Highway, one of two direct ways to get to anyplace past Kaneohe and Ahuimanu. For people out our way, closing Kamehameha Highway has an impact similar closing Kapiolani Blvd in both directions in town. It’s a big deal, as Joe Biden might say.
And, according to the Star-Advertiser report, the city isn’t working on securing the hillside. The landowner is struggling with it.
We were surprised the first time we drove through the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Haiku Road in front of Windward Mall and ran into the big “Road Closed” sign. But we haven’t seen any more about it until now.
Luckily, a friend, Tom Aitken, lives very near ground zero and has posted some iPhone photos. Here you can see the large rock retaining wall that collapsed. Click on the photo for more of his pictures of the scene.
Right now, traffic is detoured up Lulani Street and over to Kahekili Highway just before the Hygienic Store.
Tom observes: “I gather the residents of Lulani St. are pissed off that heavy traffic is detouring on their street (and shoulders).”
So why hasn’t this been news?
There were initial reports by KITV, and a one-sentence in the Star-Advertiser.
There is a building permit on record for construction of the retaining wall, not to exceed 10 feet in height. It was filed in July 2009 and approved by the city’s Civil Engineering Branch.
The permit lists the contractor as S and S Construction Inc, which lists is business purpose as “trees trimming and masonry.” The business was registered in June 1990, so it’s been around for a while. Company officers are Sione Lolohea and Suliana Lolohea, according the state’s online business registration records.
I did not see any prior problems with the company listed in the state’s database of consumer complaints.
However, there were apparently problems with the wall. City records show ongoing building code inspections beginning October 27, 2009, and continuing through the collapse last month. If this is the section of wall I’m thinking of, there was an earlier collapse during construction which took a long time to repair.
City inspections are listed as “ongoing.”
It sure looks like there’s more to this story.
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I thought is was just another effort by the people in Kahalu’u to “keep country country”.
What’s the worries here about Kam Hwy? David Tanoue the DPP
Director will widen Kam Hwy sooner or later. Easy, the city will
widen this whole stretch for the new EnvisionLaie subdivision and
Turtle Bay Resort expansion.
I think if any editor at the paper or a tv station was personally affected by this then it would covered. Otherwise it is too far off the beaten path to be considered.
But that’s like saying Kalanianaole Highway is too far off the beaten path because it isn’t downtown.
A lot more people use Kalanianaole Highway, that’s the
difference. I think it’s just us locals who know that during rush
hour Kam Highway into Kaneohe is faster.
this is the status quo these days imo. About a month ago
some kids speeding in our neighborhood crashed into a electrical
pole, totaled their car, and caused a power outage of 9+ hours for
over 1200+ homes on a Sunday. I never saw anything on the top three
local news websites I read. This event had it all: road detours,
crashed car, lots of people affected. but i guess it was not news.
come to think of it, this was on the windward side too! so it goes
these days i guess…
Because Lulani St. is such a convenient detour, this
situation really only affects Lulani St. residents (extra traffic,
especially buses) in addition to nearby Kamehameha Hwy. residents
who no longer have the option of taking Kamehameha or Kahekili Hwy.
to access their homes.
OK! The KITV crew is here at this very moment, so maybe we’ll see some exposure. I told them, and I’ll tell you: I think there is more to this story than a poorly built residential wall. When this century-old highway was originally built, a cut was made through all the properties on this strip. Many of these properties are slipping, and neighbors have been waiting to see which would go first. I have a sneaking suspicion that this landowner has the right to hold both the previous owner (if there was no disclosure) and the County partially liable. For the County, that liability will then extend down the strip. Big bucks!
A lone construction worker on the scene (Ferdinand lounging in the shade) reports he is waiting for a “bigger” excavator, arriving momentarily.
I asked him if the entire hill wasn’t unstable and he looked at me as if I were crazy. I sure hope I am.
Congratulations Ian, you’ve scooped the mainstream news once again!
-tom aitken, blogger wannabe
Give this to Civil Beat – its mainland transplants will google for statistics, census reports and come up with answers to explain everything local! Hahaha!
Walking up Lulani from the bus stop today, my 15 year old had a detouring car clip her backpack. If the city isn’t going to fix Kam then they need to at least enforce traffic on Lulani. Between the speeding and the running the stop sign at the Kahekili end of Lulani, it’s just a matter of time before someone gets hurt.
The City is giving the landowner until the 29th to remedy the situation. They are working on it today. http://www.kitv.com/news/26384889/detail.html
Note that Lulani St. is not as wide as Kamehameha Hwy., with no sidewalks and shoulders. Detouring vehicles are running the stop signs at both ends of Lulani as if it were a through-way. This is especially tough for pedestrians. Be safe, kids!
http://www1.honolulu.gov/csd/publiccom/honnews11/TheBusDetourKamHwyClosedAtLulani.htm
What a joke! Lulani is just a side road, worse than the narrow 2-lane Kam Hwy on this side of the island.
I wonder how much the state or city spent grassing that little bald hill heading towards Kahuhipa and Haiku Estates.
Kamehameha Hwy. was open both ways this morning!