Governor Green Allocates $290K for Highway 11 Northbound Panaʻewa Acceleration Lane Design

Governor Josh Green released $290,000 in capital improvement program funds on February 18, 2026, to pay for the design of a northbound acceleration lane on Highway 11 near Māmaki Street in the Panaʻewa area. The money is earmarked specifically for design work intended to help vehicles merging onto the Hilo-bound lanes at that location.

The planned improvement targets the Panaʻewa stretch of Highway 11, where drivers coming from side streets and local access points around Māmaki Street must merge into northbound traffic headed for Hilo. The design funding addresses only the engineering and planning phase for a dedicated acceleration lane on the northbound side of the highway, not construction costs.

The $290,000 allocation came through the state capital improvement program, a funding mechanism used to advance project design and preliminary engineering. By releasing CIP funds for design, the governor has cleared the initial fiscal hurdle needed to generate plans, cost estimates, and technical drawings that local and state transportation reviewers will use to evaluate next steps for the Panaʻewa project.

Engineering design will define the footprint of the proposed acceleration lane along Highway 11 and identify right-of-way or drainage considerations near Māmaki Street. Those design documents are the basis for subsequent requests for construction funding, permitting, and contractor procurement if the state and relevant agencies decide to move forward beyond the CIP-funded design phase.

Local drivers who merge into Hilo-bound lanes at Panaʻewa will see this allocation as the first concrete step toward a physical change on Highway 11. The design-only nature of the $290,000 award means residents should expect additional budgetary decisions and approvals before construction begins, with timelines tied to the capital improvement program cycle and state project reviews.

Governor Josh Green's release of the $290,000 for design on February 18, 2026, places the Panaʻewa acceleration lane on the state planning docket and creates a transparent funding line for design work. The next actions will be technical: producing engineering plans for the northbound acceleration lane on Highway 11 near Māmaki Street and submitting those plans to state reviewers as the community and elected officials monitor progress toward a potential construction phase.