Rockfall mitigation work will begin on Waipi‘o Valley Road starting Wednesday
The primary objective of this project, according to Hawaii County, is to ensure the safety of residents and visitors by proactively addressing potential rockfall hazards in the area.
The road will be closed weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to facilitate the work, and will be inaccessible to all traffic during the construction period.
This precautionary measure is vital to safeguard the public from any potential risks associated with the project, the county said in a press release.
The initial phase of the rockfall mitigation effort will focus on the section of Waipi‘o Valley Road stretching from the entrance of Waipi‘o Valley Lookout to a distance of 750 feet down the road. The anticipated timeline for completion of this phase is approximately five to six weeks, according to Sherise Kana‘e-Kane, spokeswoman for Department of Public Works.
Kana‘e-Kane said Friday that Hi-Tech Rockfall Construction submitted the winning bid of $1,172,579 to do the work on Phase One.
The only other bidder was Prometheus Construction, whose bid was almost $1.93 million.
Kana‘e-Kane said there will be four phases to the rockfall mitigation work. She said that once the first phase is completed, the other three phases will require an environmental assessment before any work can be done.
DPW said in a statement the closure of the road while work is underway “is necessary to ensure a safe and efficient work environment for our construction crews.”
Citing concerns about rockfalls, Mayor Mitch Roth closed Waipi‘o Valley Road by emergency proclamation on Feb. 25, 2022, to all but a handful of people, including valley residents and farmers.
A group called Malama I Ke Kai ‘O Waipi‘o then sued the county and Roth, alleging their rights to ocean access were being violated and that the county exaggerated how dangerous the road is based on faulty math in an engineering study.
The county eventually settled with the litigants and added Hawaii Island residents, Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and legally permitted tour groups to the list of those legally allowed to access the valley via the narrow, steep road.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.