07-07-2012, 08:44 AM
Here is where the Hawaii part comes in. Hiway 137 is only one name for it and is actually in limbo. That stretch is also called in local slang Waa Waa, although there is an actual Waa Waa road -- up the road. It is also on some maps as Beach Road, others Old Government Road. Even if it says Old Government Road (that is referring to the ancient Hawaiian chiefs using that path for runners between the villages that dotted all along the east coast side) is continuous, it isn't and actually comprised of road segments that the county uses. The road is actually Kapoho-Kalapana Road.
"There is a gap of almost 20 miles between this western segment of route 137, and the eastern segment in the next listing. There are no firm plans to connect them with an auto road; indeed, the narrow Old Puna Road Trail that occupies much of the gap between the two segments may be improved, but restricted to non-motor-vehicle use.
A 1973 state highway map, and before then a 1961 Hawaii DOT planning document, indicates that there had been plans to construct a new road (which was to be part of at first state and then county route 137) to fill the gap, which may explain why the disconnected segments carry the same route number. In addition, a sign at JN , and mileposting of the eastern segment that places that junction at about mile 7.7 of route 137, suggests that there had been later plans to fill at least part of the gap, by improving a mostly rough, narrow, and unpaved road (4x4 recommended) from the Hawaiian Beaches Estates subdivision southeast to JN . (This road is neither signed nor milemarked, and is not currently county-maintained.)
A 2005 draft Hawaii County planning document, however, rejects a similar coastal route as an alternate route between Hilo and the Puna district, in part because its vulnerability to tsunamis and (at its eastern end) lava flows would make it a poor emergency evacuation route. Other inland routings, which would not connect the existing segments, remain under consideration."
"There is a gap of almost 20 miles between this western segment of route 137, and the eastern segment in the next listing. There are no firm plans to connect them with an auto road; indeed, the narrow Old Puna Road Trail that occupies much of the gap between the two segments may be improved, but restricted to non-motor-vehicle use.
A 1973 state highway map, and before then a 1961 Hawaii DOT planning document, indicates that there had been plans to construct a new road (which was to be part of at first state and then county route 137) to fill the gap, which may explain why the disconnected segments carry the same route number. In addition, a sign at JN , and mileposting of the eastern segment that places that junction at about mile 7.7 of route 137, suggests that there had been later plans to fill at least part of the gap, by improving a mostly rough, narrow, and unpaved road (4x4 recommended) from the Hawaiian Beaches Estates subdivision southeast to JN . (This road is neither signed nor milemarked, and is not currently county-maintained.)
A 2005 draft Hawaii County planning document, however, rejects a similar coastal route as an alternate route between Hilo and the Puna district, in part because its vulnerability to tsunamis and (at its eastern end) lava flows would make it a poor emergency evacuation route. Other inland routings, which would not connect the existing segments, remain under consideration."
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*