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DOT seeking $25M to help with Honoapiilani realignment

A preliminary figure shows the proposed 4.5-mile realignment of Honoapiilani Highway from Ukumehame to Launiupoko. DOT graphic

The Maui News

The state Department of Transportation expects to hear later this year whether it will receive $25 million to help with a $90 million project to realign 4.5 miles of Honoapiilani Highway from Ukumehame to Launiupoko.

In July, the department submitted a competitive grant proposal to supplement the cost of the realignment, which would connect to the previously constructed Lahaina Bypass. The project would address the second priority location on the statewide report for coastal highway protection.

The department is asking for $25 million in Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant funds to go toward the $90 million project. If the project is fully funded, construction is anticipated to begin in late 2024.

“Honoapiilani Highway is a critical route and we are taking the steps necessary to ensure it is protected from sea level rise and coastal erosion,” DOT Deputy Director for Highways Ed Sniffen said in a news release Monday. “As the planning, environment and design process continues we’ll be asking for public input and support for the realignment.”

Temporary mitigation action to keep Honoapiilani Highway protected while the realignment project is in the works includes shifting the existing alignment about 12 feet mauka within the highway right-of-way between Mile Markers 12.97 and 14.49. This small realignment is in preliminary engineering and has an estimated cost of $4 million, according to the news release.

DOT will be working closely with Maui County and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, who own most of the land that the proposed realignment would be constructed on.

For updates and the Highway Program Status Map, visit arcg.is/0XTWX8.

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