Honolulu Landing - to pave or not to pave?

[Mitzi M]

There are cultural sites along much of this road, including segments of low stone wall right alongside much of it, dating back perhaps to pre-vehicular times when it was part of the Ala Loa or royal road. The ruins of the village Kahuwai, inhabited until historic times, are also there. Due to the hard work of some resident volunteers, this road has even been nominated to the national register of historic places as a historic trail. This status may offer some protection to the area in the long run. It is also probably the very last large stretch of intact hala forest in the state. The giant mangos are pretty close together and the road traverses some rough terrain - some hills and valleys (for those who may not know). This road is pretty skinny - maybe 10' in some places. IMHO it would not work to simply pave that and think of it as an "alternate route" in and out of lower Puna. It would be impossible to widen it sufficiently without tearing out the great old trees and adversely impacting these cultural sites. Besides, this is a rural area. People moved out here BECAUSE there was no electric etc. There's a lot of bike and pedestrian traffic on the road as well. I attended the meeting with Co.public works in October and got to hear what the residents had to say. Most were vehemently against paving the road and told some pretty moving stories about how they value their quality of life more than the convenience of being able to drive a car fast along a smooth road. Some talked about the quiet, and a palpable feeling of sacredness here that would be lost if cars could whiz by on pavement. At present, the County says they want to pave only certain patches of the road - not make it continuous. I think any pavement will increase speed and accidents on this narrow twisty road. It's already a gravel road that is passable by a regular 2WD car (mine's kind of a lowrider and I can even do it!) You just have to go a little slow. I support my Wa'a wa'a neigbors in opposing the paving of this road because I think there should be some places left that are still slow.

Aloha,
Mitzi

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