Hilo residents are invited to discuss what they want for an upcoming project to replace the Four Mile Creek Bridge.
The bridge, located at the south end of Kilauea Avenue in Hilo, carries hundreds of vehicles per day traveling to and from Highway 11. It is also a century old and only a single lane wide, which has necessitated a plan to widen the span in order to reduce traffic congestion that plagues the area.
In 2021, the County Council approved an $18 million allocation — with the state providing two-thirds of the funding and the county picking up the difference — to replace the bridge with a two-lane reinforced bridge. On July 6, a public meeting will be held for residents to discuss the planning and design of the project.
“It will be a perfect time for people to talk about what they want to see with the bridge,” said Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy. “We’re pushing to resize it, but I know there’s been discussions about water flow studies and things like bike lanes. I’d love to see if there’s plans to look at the intersection with Haihai Street, since the fire station is right there, but it can’t send its trucks through that intersection since it’s too narrow.”
Lee Loy said the Department of Public Works has done initial scoping work for the project and conducted soil studies in March to inform an eventual design.
Hilo Rep. Richard Onishi — who represents the district that includes the bridge — said plans to improve the area have been percolating for years, but the bridge sits at an odd confluence of county and state jurisdictions. The bridge and road are under county DPW authority, but because it is a major access point to Highway 11, it falls, to some extent, under the purview of the state Department of Transportation.
“We were able to secure funding five or six years ago, but the money had to go from the DOT to the county, and there were mixups and that never happened, so the money got reappropriated,” Onishi said.
Meanwhile, the county has three years to spend the funds allocated to the project in 2021. Lee Loy said she is “bird-dogging” the project to ensure that the funding doesn’t lapse again.
Onishi said he is hopeful construction on the project could begin next year and by completed by the end of 2025.
The will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on July 6 at the Waiakeawaena Elementary School cafeteria.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
