Summit road closes to be made safer

HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK - Visitors will not be able to travel to the summit of Haleakala on certain days this month while roadwork is done to provide motorists with more traction on wet or icy pavement.

The project begins at the close of business Thursday when a contractor will shut down Crater Road at the Kalahaku turnoff to allow equipment to be brought in and staged beginning Friday morning.

Construction work will begin Monday and run through Jan. 16. There will be a three-day break for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, with work to resume Jan. 20.

The upper portion of the road will be closed from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

The project is not expected to affect the lower section of Crater Road, which provides access to Hosmer Grove, the park headquarters and visitor center, and the Halemauu Trail and parking lot.

* This story includes a correction on the dates of the road closure