Construction on the Pohoiki Boat Ramp could begin by mid-2023, if all goes well.
At Monday’s Revitalize Puna event — a quarterly community event where county officials provide updates about various eruption recovery projects — a Honolulu consultant presented an updated timeline for when the boat ramp might reopen.
John Katahira, engineer with the Limtiaco Consulting Group, said the state Division of Boating and Recreation finally awarded its contract to Limtiaco in February following a Notice to Proceed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, allowing the next stages for the ramp’s restoration to go forward.
Katahira said that Limtiaco is looking exclusively at options for restoring the existing boat ramp, which was undamaged by the 2018 lava flow but was blocked by a sandbar.
“We know that the alternative sites were not well-received by the community,” Katahira said.
Currently, Katahira said Limtiaco is conducting a study on dredging the sandbar, after which it will commence work on an environmental assessment. The final assessment could “probably” be completed by January of next year, he said.
Following the assessment and a design phase, Katahira said construction could begin by mid-2023.
“But, that depends on if we have funding,” Katahira said, adding that he is hoping for $3 million from FEMA in addition to the $1.5 million already committed by the state.
The total cost of dredging out the ramp is estimated between $3.5 million and $6 million.
Katahira’s timeline was accelerated from a previous one provided at the last Revitalize Puna, in January. At that event, DOBOR engineer Finn McCall estimated that construction could begin by mid-2024.
The boat ramp update elicited cheers and applause from the audience Monday, the first Revitalize Puna event to be held in person after the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the event, attendees cheered or grumbled at other announcements by county department heads.
Those announcements included one by Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina, who said that reopening the lava-inundated Ahalanui Beach Park would cost an estimated $80 million, to audible audience dismay.
Most other announcements reiterated those from previous events.
Public Works Director Ikaika Rodenhurst said the restoration of Pohoiki Road and other roads buried by lava is still dependent on FEMA completing an environmental assessment for the projects as a whole, which will happen no later than the end of this year.
Three projects — Highway 137 from Mackenzie State Recreation Area to Pohoiki Road, 137 from “Four Corners” to Kapoho Beach Road, and Lighthouse Road — are scheduled for completion by mid-2024, while Pohoiki Road will be completed by the end of 2025.
The Pohoiki restoration will entail clearing lava from the upper part of the road, a realignment of the lower part, and a water line to connect with Highway 137, all of which will be worked on concurrently.
One Puna resident, Tisha Montoya, complained that she has a county grant to help rebuild her destroyed property on Pohoiki Road, but with access to that property not possible until 2025, the grant will expire before she can use it.
But Rodenhurst said FEMA’s involvement with the project makes it impossible to separate the multiple road projects.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
