Flood repairs continue on Kuakini highway

County crews will continue to clean up and repave portions of Kuakini Highway that recently were damaged by flash flooding.

The Department of Public Works will be laying blacktop along portions of a half-mile stretch of shoulder south of the intersection of Wailua Road this week, where flooding Sept. 4 gouged out the embankment, lifted pavement, left gullies and exposed a water main and pressure relief valves.

Crews were able to keep both lanes open last week while working to tear out sections of damaged asphalt. But repaving likely will require single lane closures this week, said Ben Casuga, Kona’s district road overseer.

Four large concrete culverts in that portion of Kuakini are designed to carry floodwater from the Waiaha drainage under the highway, Casuga said. But heavy rainfall overwhelms the system.

Kuakini Highway became a muddy river Sept. 4, with floodwaters running down Wailua Road and into Kailua Village.

The prospect of building drainage canals to handle sudden runoff through Waiaha has been batted around for decades. While a canal isn’t currently planned, a drainage system to address flooding from the slopes of Hualalai will be part of improvements to Kuakini Highway south of the University of the Nations, a project currently working its way through environmental studies, Public Works director Warren Lee said. The improved highway will have curbs, gutters, sidewalks and dry wells, Lee said.

Workers also are restoring flood-damaged shoulders on Hualalai Road above Queen Kaahumanu Highway and along Mamalahoa Highway.

Email Bret Yager at byager@westhawaiitoday.com.