State starts work on Līhu‘e Airport parking improvements

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation has started improvements to an employee parking lot at the Līhu‘e Airport meant to relieve some congestion in the airport’s public lot.

The $10.2 million project, awarded to contractor Alpha, Inc., is expected to be completed by fall 2026. Work includes upgrading an existing employee overflow gravel lot located northeast of the main terminal building with asphalt concrete paving, marked parking stalls, lighting, access control, security cameras, drainage and other related improvements.

When completed, the 2.3-acre paved lot will accommodate up to 347 employee vehicles, an increase of approximately 117 stalls.

Parking at Līhu‘e Airport is limited for both the traveling public and airport employees. The public lot has 578 stalls. The main employee parking lot has 333 stalls, but availability varies during peak travel periods when a portion of the employee stalls are made available to the public, forcing employees to park in the overflow gravel lot.

When work on the overflow employee lot is completed, the increased capacity will provide parking officials with more flexibility to use some of the stalls in the main employee lot for the public during peak travel periods.

Hawai‘i Department of Transportation will update the public if construction work is anticipated to impact traffic flow into or out of the airport.

HDOT is planning an additional project to expand the public parking capacity by converting two small, landscaped parcels located at each end of the existing lot. Based on a preliminary assessment of the two semi-circle-shaped parcels, it is estimated that 128 public parking stalls could be added. This project is currently in the design phase. The project completion is targeted for the first half of 2029.

Additional options for expanding public and employee parking capacity are being considered as part of a long-term Līhu‘e Airport Optimization Plan, which is still under development and would need community and stakeholder input.