Plans to improve Lahaina evacuation routes are slowly inching forward

Associated Press

10-07-2025

Maui County has taken early steps toward acquiring the land it will need to extend key Lahaina roadways and give residents there better — and faster — evacuation options during emergencies like the 2023 wildfire that destroyed most of the town and killed at least 102 people.
The county several weeks ago purchased property that would allow for the extension of Aki Road through an area of the Kuhua Camp neighborhood that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers a critical pathway. The County Council on Tuesday also unanimously voted to approve the purchase of several small parcels that are important for efforts to extend Dickenson and Kuhua streets to the south.
However, some county leaders and residents say they're frustrated at how long it's taking to complete the most urgent road extensions in one of the deadliest and hardest-hit areas during the fire.
It will probably be several years before the county is able to extend Kuhua Street to the north and connect it to Keawe Street. Had that route been in place during the wildfire, along with the Aki Street extension, nearly three dozen victims in the Kuhua Camp neighborhood — the largest concentration of people who died in the disaster — may have actually survived, according to computer modeling that the Army Corps provided last year to Maui County planners.
Currently, Kuhua Street dead-ends to the north and Aki Street is divided by a private residential lot. Removing that dead end and connecting lower Aki with upper Aki would provide critical evacuation routes that weren't available during the deadly Lahaina fire.
Kirk Boes, a longtime Maui resident who narrowly escaped from his home on Kuhua Street before it burned down in the 2023 wildfire, said he was disappointed that the recent land acquisitions did not advance efforts to widen Kuhua Street — which currently terminates at a dead end — or extend the road northward.
'That should be the priority, because that's where the residential development and all the housing is, and that's where everybody gets trapped in the jumble,' he said, recalling the chaos that reigned over the neighborhood when terrified residents realized that their only escape routes were blocked by locked gates, downed trees and fallen power lines. 'It seems like they're going about things in piecemeal fashion, and it seems like acquiring these lots should be a pretty low priority. It doesn't get to the big problems.'
In the Lahaina Long-term Recovery Plan, the Kuhua Street extension was highlighted as one of the county's priorities, but because of the hefty $36 million estimated price tag and the complexity related to land acquisition and construction permitting, a predicted completion date is still years away.
The drawn-out timeline is disappointing, Boes said. Even though he and his wife have continued to live in temporary housing since the fire, they would not consider attempting to rebuild until the northward extension of Kuhua Street is complete and the county has determined how it plans to widen the road, he said.
'We thought that was our forever home, but it would be absurd to go down there, in my opinion and for too many people to start building homes in this neighborhood until they have to have an alternate route to get out,' he said. 'We barely made it out alive.'
Though incremental progress was made this week when council members gave the county the go-ahead to pay $1.95 million to Hope Builders, Inc. and Wainee Land 8s Homes for 1.724 acres near Dickenson and Mill streets, the affected land is only anticipated to help with the county's southward extension of Kuhua Street. Both corporations are run by local developer Peter Martin.
While the Kuhua Street extension has repeatedly been identified as critical in order to improve evacuation options for residents, county officials have outlined several other planned road extension and connectivity projects intended to provide life-saving evacuation routes and improve public safety.
Construction on the different projects is expected to begin at varying points over the next decade, said Jordan Molina, the director of the Department of Public Works, during last week's community meeting in Lahaina.
The Aki Street extension is now expected to be among the first to be completed, with the two segments of the street possibly being connected within the next couple of months, Molina said.
'There was a small stretch of Aki Street that was not part of the public roadway system,' he said. 'We did successfully get that land acquired from the property owner, who was very gracious in cooperating with us, and so we're working to get that last segment tied in to complete that corridor.'
Brian Acason, the Maui resident who owns the parcel splitting Aki Street, said the process of selling the land to the county was smooth.
'I've lived here 50 years, and I want to be part of the community,' he said, adding that in the fire aftermath something had to be done to address access and evacuation challenges.
Records show the county purchased the narrow length needed to extend Aki through his property for $178,000 on May 28. Acason said he's not yet sure what he'll do with his now two parcels split by the road right-of-way.
Other projects, including plans to join the three currently unconnected segments of Dickenson Street have a much longer road ahead, Molina said.
'These are projects that are currently being planned and the construction is anticipated in a five to 10-year time frame,' he said.
Council members have also discussed other potential property acquisitions. In February, the council's Disaster Recovery, International Affairs and Planning Committee unanimously recommended the purchase of a 24,018-square-foot lot on Limahana Place for $1.7 million. Ownership of that property would provide the county with additional land that could be used for the Kuhua Street extension and to connect Pāpalaua Street to Aki Street.
Even though many of the parcels the county is on track to purchase are on the relative outskirts of the land needed to complete the projects, county officials needed to consider any opportunity to move forward efforts to extend the streets and improve the area's infrastructure, said council member Tamara Paltin, who represents Lahaina and West Maui.
Council member Gabe Johnson, who represents Lānaʻi, said the majority of West Maui community members support street extension projects and other initiatives intended to improve emergency evacuation route options, and the government should be looking for ways to 'cut some of the red tape' and speed up the process.
'I wish we had more of an aggressive approach,' he said Tuesday. 'We're basically waiting for the next disaster, so we should act with a sense of urgency. Sometimes our own processes are the ones that get in our way.'
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Civil Beat reporter Matthew Leonard contributed to this story.
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This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.