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roads between pohoiki and kapoho may never be opened again,
I just watched a video - - there are now multiple players in the flying taxi market, some expect it will be available to the average consumer within the next 4-5 years. If that's the case, it could provide all of the "inaccessible" property in lower Puna, with a means of access again. Of course it's more complicated than just hopping in and catching an Uber Flying Taxi to your home in Kapoho. A bulldozer would have to make it's way down the ridge, from lot to lot in order to clear building sites etc, but over time it could happen.
The only holdup would come from the part in the video where "regulators" are discussed. If it's Hawaii County regulators - - then you can count on flying taxis even if a reality in the rest of the world... never getting off the ground here.
https://www.reuters.com/video/2018/09/14/flying-taxis-could-take-to-the-skies-by?videoId=464196182&videoChannel=118169&channelName=Editors%27+Picks
“It's tremendously big and tremendously wet, tremendous amounts of water.” President Donald J. Trump describing an active hurricane on Tue, Sept 11, 2018
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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quote:
Originally posted by bluesboy
i'm betting the county will open the road to pohoiki over the mackenzie flows fairly shortly.
roads between pohoiki and kapoho may never be opened again, as it's all just lava now.
Not great news to me as Kamaili Rd would get lots more traffic and mostly "one lane"...
Oh well, first world problem.
Cheers,
Kirt
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"County Managing Director Will Okabe said he expects private contractors will submit bids for clearing lava from Highway 137 to Pohoiki by the end of this week."
So what do we guesstimate that mean till completion and public use? Weeks/months/years?
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From
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2018/0...a-beaches/
With the current lull in the eruption of Kilauea Volcano, state and county agencies are looking at recovering some of Puna's treasured recreational areas. That includes Pohoiki, the district’s only boat ramp, and MacKenzie State Recreation Area.
The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources recently produced a video update on both locations...
Follow link above to read more and see the video..
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Spoke to a longtime lifeguard at Richardsons tonight; he said public use has more than doubled at the beach park and also at 4 Miles (Carlsmith), the only two decent coastal parks for swimming in the Hilo area. This follows the big losses in Puna ocean recreation.
Onekahakaha Park, essentially a giant keiki pond too shallow for good swimming except at super high tide, is equally crowded.
Parking is now crazy at all three sites, the lifeguard says. Does this signify anything to anyone? Or is everyone satisfied that the pending re-opening of Poihiki will largely solve our ocean recreation deficit?
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" Or is everyone satisfied that the pending re-opening of Poihiki will largely solve our ocean recreation deficit?"
Have you actually been to Pohoiki or did you just read about it on the internet ?
There was a very small spot to swim there and that was the launch ramp.That area has been replaced by a very small warm pond that is full of dead fish and would turn into a fetid cesspool in short order if a lot of people started using it.
The black sand beaches are more rock and cinder than sand and will cut your feet to ribbons.
The rip current and undertow is so hazardous that swimming will be a no go.
Most of the swimming areas, Ahalanui,Waiopae and Champagne Pond are lost forever.
I live in a condo overlooking Carlsmith now, so that is my answer.
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"The black sand beaches are more rock and cinder than sand and will cut your feet to ribbons."
"The rip current and undertow is so hazardous that swimming will be a no go."
What are you basing these assessments on?
Any word on surfing? Assuming first bay is completely filled in, but is second bay better or worse now?
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"is everyone satisfied that the pending re-opening of Poihiki will largely solve our ocean recreation deficit?"
Even if all the recreational shoreline areas that have been lost in our lifetime were still intact I doubt that was enough for Puna's population, especially if it continues to grow.
Puna is more and more becoming just a bedroom community of Hilo, which because of extremely poor choices in the past (using the Wailoa River / Waiakea Pond Estuary as a toxic dump, and a poorly designed break wall) is lacking in shoreline recreational areas itself.
I think we could say that about the whole island. We sold our soul beaches to the highest bidders. And Pele took what was left.
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"What are you basing these assessments on?"
I base my assessments on this statement which is actually about Mackenzie and the video from the same article.
State Parks Caretaker KyleTakeya explained, “There is a powerful undertow at these beaches and a swimmer or boarder could easily be swept out to sea.”
And this video,go to the 4:15 mark to see the beach and go to the 10:30 mark for proof about how rough it is and if you listen closely you can hear the young surfer talking about the lack of a break:
https://vimeo.com/290157289
I also base my assessments on conversations with friends who have made the hike.
It does look like the dead fish are gone from the pond.
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"I think we could say that about the whole island. We sold our soul beaches to the highest bidders. And Pele took what was left."
I disagree on the Kona beaches implication. Sure Hapuna was better before they put the hotel there some 25 years ago. But Hapuna is still a pretty good beach. The coast from Kailua town to Kawaihae is mostly rocky but interspersed with many high quality beaches. Several are not marred by hotels.
It is East Hawaii Island that has the big problem. No other coastline in Hawaii remotely has our ocean recreation deficit.
Will an exception be made, some new shoreline project like a swimming lagoon be created here, in spite of state officials' longstanding hostility to coastal modification (much egged on by our environmentalists)?
