Road Closures Continue on Kūhiō Highway as Crews Assess Slope After Landslide

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation (HDOT) will maintain closures on Kūhiō Highway on the north shore of Kaua‘i until crews can safely assess and stabilize the slopes.

Currently impacted areas are:

-Kūhiō Highway between Kolopua Apartments and Hanalei Plantation Road. This closure is being put in place out of an abundance of caution. The area will be assessed, and more information provided shortly.

-Both lanes of Kūhiō Highway at mile marker 1 (“Hanalei Hill”) approaching Hanalei Bridge.

-Single lane of Kūhiō Highway at mile marker 4.5 near Waikoko.

Water and soil continue to come off the slope at Hanalei Hill. We are anticipating it will take a day, weather permitting, for conditions to be stable for personnel to be out for the assessment and debris removal.

The recent slide near Mile Marker 1 is on the Wainiha side of a shallow slide that occurred during the 2018 floods. Due to the shallow nature of the slide, HDOT had protected this area with a mesh covering the slope and a rockfall fence that would capture any loose debris from above. This is outside of the area crews stabilized with soil anchors following the 2018 Floods.

The current slide is much deeper than the previous event at this location, but not as wide. HDOT have also observed a lot more water exiting the slope in this location than the previous event.

HDOT will update on the status of Kūhiō Highway as soon as new information is available.