Stephens Media
Stephens Media
Construction on the Saddle Road extension, which would take the cross-island route from Mamalahoa Highway to Waikoloa Beach Drive, could begin as soon as 2017, according to an environmental impact statement preparation notice released Wednesday.
If everything ran on time, the project could finish as soon as 2019. The extension is necessary, the document said, because the existing routes from Kona to Hilo are indirect. The cost was not estimated in the preparation notice.
“Both existing routes from East to West Hawaii are circuitous and do not meet standards of modern regional highways,” the notice said. “They would require substantial costs to improve, which might not be warranted because they are not oriented properly to serve current or future traffic demand. The lack of a modern, state highway connection limits the future function of the Saddle Road as a cross-island arterial. There is thus a need to provide a direct, safe and efficient link between East Hawaii and South Kohala/Kona for motorists traveling on Saddle Road.”
The notice also said traffic studies forecast “substantial” increases in traffic in the next 20 years.
“Saddle Road is expected to account for a much larger portion of this traffic than it currently does, because of the major alignment, widening and safety improvements that have been constructed over the last 10 years and will soon be substantially complete,” the notice said. “The new Saddle Road provides a much shorter, faster and safer route between East and West Hawaii.”
Saddle Road’s junction with Mamalahoa Highway is being moved about six miles closer to Kailua-Kona as part of a major realignment project. Extending Saddle Road to Queen Kaahumanu Highway, at Waikoloa Beach Drive, will improve efficiency, safety and better support the needs of commercial and military traffic, the notice said.
Officials began an environmental impact statement for a road extension in 1999. In 2003, changes in military plans for land through which Saddle Road runs prompted federal officials to put on hold any additional road planning, until 2010, when federal highways and military officials selected a new terminus for Saddle Road. Once officials knew where Saddle Road would end, they again began planning for the extension. The extension would be designed for 50 mph traffic, with two lanes and a maximum 7 percent grade.