Hawaii will receive $74.6 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the rehabilitation of the Nanue and Hakalau bridges on Hawaii Island.
Hawaii will receive $74.6 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the rehabilitation of the Nanue and Hakalau bridges on Hawaii Island.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) “urged the DOT to allocate funding for these projects which will help maintain traffic capacity and safety,” according to a press release from his office.
The funding, which comes from the infrastructure law Congress passed in 2021, also will enable the completion of environmental remediation of lead paint under Hakalau Bridge that led to the closure of Hakalau Beach Park in 2017.
The Nanue and Hakalau bridges require significant rehabilitation in order to maintain operations along State Route 19 which is key for freight and a primary route of commercial vehicles traveling between Hilo and Kona. Without these upgrades, traffic on the bridges would have had to be rerouted for months out of the year in the coming years, if not closed entirely.
“This funding will help improve the safety of bridges that so many in East Hawaii rely on every day,” Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, said in the press release. “I’ll continue working to make sure Hawaii receives its fair share of federal dollars.”
The announcement of the federal funding didn’t include an estimate for when the upgrades would begin, or how long they would take.
In 2022, the state estimated the complete rehabilitation of Nanue Bridge, located south of Ninole, would begin this year and would cost $25 million, while rehabilitation of Hakalau Bridge would start in 2023 and cost $65 million.
