Hawaii County expects to begin improving Government Beach Road early next week or possibly sooner as a lava flow threatens to cut off access to lower Puna, said Public Works Director Warren Lee.
Hawaii County expects to begin improving Government Beach Road early next week or possibly sooner as a lava flow threatens to cut off access to lower Puna, said Public Works Director Warren Lee.
If lava makes its way to Highway 130, the rough and largely unmaintained dirt road along the Puna coast likely would be the only route to transport people and supplies between lower Puna and the rest of the island.
The goal is to make it a one-lane road passable for all vehicles before the highway is blocked, Lee said. But the county might be limited on time.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory estimated Monday evening the flow could be a little more than two weeks away from reaching Pahoa Village Road. The highway also could be blocked about the same time.
“The worst-case scenario is it gets there in 18 days,” Lee said.
If that occurs, the county could make the road passable in one week if crews worked from both ends around the clock, he said.
“We just got to work day and night and safe and efficiently as we can,” Lee said.
If more time is available, the work could take until late September or early October to finish, he said.
About 8 miles of the road would need to be improved from Kapoho to Hawaiian Paradise Park to provide an alternate route. The cost would be between $300,000 to $500,000, Lee estimated.
He said the state is taking the lead on making another alternate route along Railroad Avenue from Hawaiian Beaches to HPP. That stretch also requires improvements.
Lee said he did not have an estimate from state Department of Transportation for when that work will begin or its cost.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.