Gov. Josh Green recently released $15 million to acquire land for improvements at the Port of Hilo.
Meanwhile, state Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen said an environmental assessment is underway and a draft EA on the project should be completed “within the next 60 days.”
Sniffen said that as part of an effort “to improve operational efficiencies at our harbor facilities statewide” Harbors Division is working to acquire almost 10 acres of privately owned land near the harbor entrance with the aim of “creating more space in our cargo terminals and alleviating congestion on Kalanianaole Avenue.”
There recently has been almost five years of construction work on Kalanianaole, the only way in and out of Hilo’s Keaukaha neighborhood, inconveniencing residents, many of them Hawaiian homesteaders, and angering some.
A Sept. 23, 2022, letter from Bill Kucharski, a project manager for Honolulu-based consultant Bowers + Kubota, said in October the project will create “new harbor entry points and internal stacking and merge lanes within the harbor boundaries for cargo trucks that enter/exit the project site.”
The desired result is “an unobstructed traffic lane going both directions along Kalanianaole … between Kuhio and Kahana streets” and more off-street waiting space for Young Brothers, Matson and Pasha Hawaii trucks and reducing traffic congestion around the harbor.
Kucharski told the Tribune-Herald in October the stacking lanes would assure the trucks of the three cargo shippers would be “off the street during the morning and afternoon rush hours for the schools.”
Area schools include Keaukaha Elementary School, Ka Umeke Kaeo Public Charter School and Kamehameha Schools Keaukaha Preschool.
Sen. Lorraine Inouye, a Hilo Democrat who sits on the Ways and Means Committee, praised Green for releasing the $15 million, noting the harbor “plays a crucial role in the Big Island economy.”
Sniffen said the $15 million appropriation “is based on county real property assessments and appraised market values.”
“The final purchase price will include the HDOT’s due diligence of environmental impacts, if any, any land entitlement matters, and other terms negotiated with the landowners,” he said.
The real estate sought by the state is divided into five parcels zoned for industrial use, with three parcels on the Hamakua side of the harbor entrance and two on the Keaukaha side of the entrance.
Owners of the parcels include: Giampaolo “Paul” Boschetti, a San Francisco-based real estate investor with numerous holdings in Hawaii, including the Tribune-Herald building; 595K LLC, owned by Greg Gadd, the president of Big Island Homes and Land; and Airgas Gaspro Inc., which has merged into an entity called Airgas USA, based in suburban Philadelphia.
“As part of the EA process, we sent consultation letters to state and county agencies in late 2022 and we drafting responses to comments which will a part of the draft EA,” Sniffen said. “When we post the draft EA, we will hold public meetings and collect public input during an open comment period tentatively scheduled during fall 2023. Upon receipt of public comments and completion of the EA, we will have determined the preferred alternative and will start the design phase of the project accordingly.”
Sniffen said the land acquisition, including necessary approvals by the Board of Land and Natural Resources, “to be complete before the end of calendar year 2025.”
He said construction, “including improved access-ways to the port and the proposed dedicated turn lane from Kalanianaole,” should take about three years to complete.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.