Road And Highway Builders Has Made Significant Progress On The Latest Phase Of The Saddle Road Improvement Project

I went to Hilo yesterday with my girlfriend. We drove back to Kona via Saddle Road. This allowed me to see how much Road and Highway Builders LLC has accomplished on the latest Saddle Road improvement phase thus far.

Road and Highway Builders LLC has made significant progress (between m.m 11-19). They’ve started to reconstruct the roadway by m.m 19 (the roadway has been torn up and a gravel base has been laid). In addition, the grubbing work has reached all the way down to m.m 13.

The HDOT is working on fixing the malfunctioning street lights between Henry Street/Palani Road intersection, Makala Blvd/Palani Road, and by the police station. It is my understanding that the electrical circuits serving these lights were overheating. The HDOT’s electrical contractor has ordered parts to fix the problem (which will take 3-4 weeks to arrive).

The clock is ticking on Aina Le’a project in South Kohala. The Hawaii Land Use Commission will determine if the developer has complied with their imposed conditions in about a month. It should be interesting to see what action the LUC will take on this matter. I can’t fathom that the LUC would withdraw the reclassification of this land after the good faith effort by the developer to comply with the LUC’s conditions.

(Related item: Lots Of Questions Surrounding The Villages Of Aina Le’a Project In South Kohala)

The Hawaii LUC will be hearing Ooma Beachside Village’s petition to reclassify O’oma from conservation to urban. I hope the LUC does not approve this petition. The O’oma shoreline area should remain classified as conservation for future generations.

(Related item: Should O’oma Be Protected From Development?)

Lastly, Saturday’s earthquake in Chile was centered much deeper under the ocean floor compared to the earthquake that occurred in 1960. This undoubtedly resulted in a weaker tsunami.

(Related item: Videos from Tsunami Saturday)