An aerial photo taken from a Hawaiian Airlines flight shows the South Maui coast, including Central Kīhei (below) and Wailea (top). Piʻilani Highway can be seen at left, along with parallel streets Līloa Drive (center) and South Kīhei Road (right). PC: Brian Perry
Maui County’s Department of Public Works has published a final environmental assessment and a finding of no significant environmental impact for an $80 million project to extend Līloa Drive by 4,900 feet.
Plans call for lengthening the roadway, also known as the North-South Collector Road, from East Waipu‘ilani Road to Ka‘ono‘ulu Street in Kīhei. A little more than a year ago the department sought public input on its plans. Now, this is an official notice that the public review process has been completed with publication in the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development’s Aug. 23 issue of The Environmental Notice.
The extension of Līloa Drive is a two-phase project with two-lanes with curbs, gutters, sidewalks, a shared use path, retaining walls, street lights, pathway lights and related utility improvements.
The long-planned collector road is designed to give motorists a third alternative for north-south travel, aside from South Kīhei Road and Pi‘ilani Highway. Demand of area roadways is expected to grow by more than 40%, in line with the area’s population, by 2035. Without the project, traffic on those parallel roads is forecast to increase approximately 35% along South Kīhei Road and 55% along Pi‘ilani Highway.
Looking south from the intersection of Kūlanihākoʻi Street and Kenolio Road is the corridor of the Liloa Drive extension project. PC: Brian Perry
The Līloa Drive extension project is listed in the Federal-Aid Highways 2035 Transportation Plan for the Maui District (July 2014); the Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Hele Mai Maui Long-Range Transportation Plan 2040 (December 2019); and the Kīhei Sub-Area Transportation Plan (March 2021). Phase I of the project is included in the 2022-2025 Maui Transportation Improvement Program.
The first phase of the project will be between East Waipu‘ilani Road to the vicinity of Kūlanihāko‘i Street, and the second phase will extend the road north from Kūlanihākoʻi to Ka‘ono‘ulu Street. Phase I is expected to begin construction in 2027 and take 18 to 24 months to complete. The second phase will start after completion of the first and following receipt of funding.
Plans call for single-lane roundabouts at Līloa Drive’s intersections with Ka‘ono‘ulu and Kūlanihāko‘i streets and East Waipu‘ilani Road. Cross street improvements will be provided to help with traffic flow at those intersections, as well as other intersections along the extension of Līloa Drive.
Two bridges will be installed: one at Waipu‘ilani Gulch; and the other at Kūlanihāko‘i Gulch. The bridge projects will involve work up- and downstream of the bridges.
The project’s consultant is the Wailuku planning firm of Munekiyo Hiraga.
Map 1 in Maui County’s environmental assessment for its planned Līloa Drive extension project shows the point where the first and second project phases meet near Kūlanihāko‘i Gulch in Kīhei. PC: Screen grab from online submission to the state Office of Planning and Sustainable Development