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Associated Press
10-07-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Plans to improve Lahaina evacuation routes are slowly inching forward
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.' ___ Civil Beat reporter Matthew Leonard contributed to this story. ___ This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
The Independent
09-06-2025
- General
- The Independent
50 trucks will spend 5 months transporting Lahaina wildfire debris to a Maui landfill
Fifty trucks will spend five months hauling Lahaina wildfire debris to a landfill in the center of Maui starting next Monday, Maui County said. There's enough debris to fill five football fields five stories high. About two years ago the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century killed 102 people and turned vast stretches of Lahaina into burned rubble. The trucks are expected to make multiple trips each day moving the debris from Olowalu, a town south of Lahaina, to the Central Maui Landfill about 19 miles (30 kilometers) away, the county said in a statement. Part of the route follows a winding, two-land coastal highway. The trucks will travel on former sugar cane plantation roads for portions to limit traffic disruption. For safety reasons, crews will only work during the day. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished clearing Lahaina properties earlier this year but it's had to temporarily store the debris at a former quarry on state-owned land in Olowalu while authorities searched for longer-term solution. In December, the Maui County Council approved acquiring privately owned land next to Maui's existing landfill for a permanent disposal site. Handling debris after large wildfires is always a logistical challenge. It took Paradise, California, officials about a year to transport more than 300,000 truck loads of debris to three different landfills after the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people and burned most of the town. Maui County said it evaluated the debris with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health and determined transporting and storing it at the landfill didn't post a public health risk. Workers will lightly wet it before loading it onto trucks to control dust. The debris will be wrapped in thick plastic sheets. In total, it weighs about 400,000 tons (363,00 metric tons). Some Olowalu residents were worried the debris would stay in their community permanently, potentially desecrating Native Hawaiian shrines, ancient burial sites and offshore coral reefs and marine life. Most of the steel and concrete left behind by the fire was to be recycled. Much of the debris heading for the landfill is ash and small particles, which state Department of Health tests found had arsenic, lead and other toxins.
Associated Press
09-06-2025
- General
- Associated Press
50 trucks will spend 5 months transporting Lahaina wildfire debris to a Maui landfill
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Fifty trucks will spend five months hauling Lahaina wildfire debris to a landfill in the center of Maui starting next Monday, Maui County said. There's enough debris to fill five football fields five stories high. About two years ago the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century killed 102 people and turned vast stretches of Lahaina into burned rubble. The trucks are expected to make multiple trips each day moving the debris from Olowalu, a town south of Lahaina, to the Central Maui Landfill about 19 miles (30 kilometers) away, the county said in a statement. Part of the route follows a winding, two-land coastal highway. The trucks will travel on former sugar cane plantation roads for portions to limit traffic disruption. For safety reasons, crews will only work during the day. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished clearing Lahaina properties earlier this year but it's had to temporarily store the debris at a former quarry on state-owned land in Olowalu while authorities searched for longer-term solution. In December, the Maui County Council approved acquiring privately owned land next to Maui's existing landfill for a permanent disposal site. Handling debris after large wildfires is always a logistical challenge. It took Paradise, California, officials about a year to transport more than 300,000 truck loads of debris to three different landfills after the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people and burned most of the town. Maui County said it evaluated the debris with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health and determined transporting and storing it at the landfill didn't post a public health risk. Workers will lightly wet it before loading it onto trucks to control dust. The debris will be wrapped in thick plastic sheets. In total, it weighs about 400,000 tons (363,00 metric tons). Some Olowalu residents were worried the debris would stay in their community permanently, potentially desecrating Native Hawaiian shrines, ancient burial sites and offshore coral reefs and marine life. Most of the steel and concrete left behind by the fire was to be recycled. Much of the debris heading for the landfill is ash and small particles, which state Department of Health tests found had arsenic, lead and other toxins.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Traffic expected as crews truck Lahaina wildfire debris to central Maui
HONOLULU (KHON2) — It's said to be the next important step in rebuilding Lahaina, moving all the debris from the fire to its permanent site. The move will cause some traffic problems for commuters for the next few months and cost taxpayers millions more. Deal reached: How will the $4B Lahaina Global Settlement be split for fire victims? More than 1,500 structures, both residential and commercial, were destroyed in the August 2023 Lahaina wildfire. The first step in rebuilding is removing all the debris. 'The longer the debris sat there, the more vulnerable the near-shore waters were to exposure when it rained,' said John Smith, Maui County Office of Recovery Administrator. 'So, there were very few options, and Olowalu came to the top of the options in terms of logistics.' Olowalu is just a 10-minute drive from Lahaina town, which officials say sped up the cleanup process while they figured out where to permanently put the debris, which is located next to the current landfill in central Maui. Starting next month, crews will use up to 50 dump trucks a day to transport the debris 19 miles from Olowalu to Puunene. Work will be done seven days a week, only during daylight hours.'You'll see the trucks, but it's not going to be this major increase in traffic,' said Smith. 'I think people don't realize the impact that it's going to have until it actually happens,' said Sen. Troy Hashimoto, (D) Wailuku, Kahului, Waiehu. 'And so people are going to start seeing that, especially people that live in my district who live in central Maui and commute to work. They're going to feel that.' Maui County officials say they surveyed residents and found their top concern was environmental impact, which is why officials finally chose the central Maui site over Olowalu. But the county had to buy the land for $4 million. It also had to pay to prepare the landfill site for the 400,000 tons of debris. 'I think we would probably have rather used some of that money for other things, but I think that decision was made and we have to move on at this point,' said Hashimoto. That's exactly what county officials are doing. Even though only a few homes in Lahaina have been rebuilt, officials say there are more than 250 homes under construction. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news 'All of that work could not have started unless we would have made this decision right away to move the debris to the temporary site,' said Smith. 'Otherwise, we'd still be waiting on the permanent landfill today, which is just not ready.' The debris transportation is expected to run through November. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
