State Department of Transportation crews, joined by Hawaii Police Department Community Policing Officers, cleared out three drainage tunnels and another encampment in Kona on Wednesday, hauling away tons of trash.
The tunnels, which run under Queen Kaahumanu Highway at Henry Street and Makala Boulevard, along with an area behind the Kailua-Kona Post Office, netted 12 dump truck loads of refuse.
The tunnel “residents” were given advance warning of the state’s intention to clear the drainage-ways, and belongings they could not carry but wanted to keep were transported to a container, where they will be held for 30 days.
The DOT initiated the clean-up with police standing by for safety reasons.
“Our role in this one was very minimal,” said Community Policing Sgt. Brandon Mansur. “A few times a year, the DOT comes out and they address areas along Queen Kaahumanu Highway where a bunch of trash has piled up and needs to be cleared out. This is a routine thing they do.”
Queen Kaahumanu Highway is a state road, so maintenance falls upon the state DOT, including the culverts that run under the highway.
Mansur said the DOT has a homeless outreach person who contacted the individuals last week, giving notice that the clean-up day was coming.
Twelve individuals occupied the three locations. They all relocated from the sites and were offered services.
“Everything went good. No one was cited, no one was arrested,” said Community Policing Officer Wyatt Nahale. “For the most part everyone was compliant. They grabbed their stuff and left.”
Nahale said the state workers were able to then go into the areas and start removing the trash.
“They did store a bunch of stuff for the individuals who wanted to keep some of their things. The state came in and wrapped everything up, put their personal information on their stuff and stored it,” said Nahale.
He said the tunnels were very equipped with sub-flooring and “room dividers” made from pallets and plywood, couches, furniture, tables and chairs, “anything you could think of” and lots of trash.
“There was so much stuff in the tunnels, outside the tunnels and all around the tunnels,” he said, adding the majority of trash cleared Wednesday was from inside the tunnels.
Since the tunnels are used for runoff, they can become a very dangerous place to be in the case of a flash flood or heavy rains. The amount of trash in the drainage-way could cause blockage and potential flooding. The tunnels have been cleared several times over the last few years, but the cycle continues.
“They will probably be back there tonight,” said Nahale.