Residents question revived plan to extend Daniel K. Inouye Highway

Dozens of South Kohala residents packed Waikōloa Elementary and Middle School on Wednesday night to press state planners for answers on the revived Daniel K. Inouye Highway extension, but the biggest questions remained unresolved: where the road would run, what land it would cross, how much it would cost and when construction might begin.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation said it is reinitiating the project with the Federal Highway Administration and must prepare updated environmental impact statements under both federal and state law before the proposal can move forward. The study area covers about 10.5 miles in South Kohala, from Māmalahoa Highway to Queen Kaahumanu Highway, and the 2017 draft environmental review examined three possible routes.

That left residents asking the same practical questions planners have faced for years. The extension would complete the long-discussed westward link from the current end of the highway to Queen Kaahumanu Highway, changing how traffic moves across the island’s central spine. People wanted to know how the project would affect Waikoloa Road, Kawaihae Road and nearby neighborhoods, especially in an area where commuting, development pressure, military access and land use already collide.

The project has been in and out of limbo for more than two decades. It began in 1999, then was delayed in 2003 for eight years while the U.S. Army prepared an environmental impact statement tied to expanded training at Pōhakuloa Training Area. It was shelved again in 2018 because of funding problems, and then again in fall 2020 after state money dried up and the project failed to win a federal grant.

Cost remains one of the biggest obstacles. The earlier estimate in 2017 was $80 million, but HDOT has since put the updated price at about $150 million. The state had once hoped to use rental car surcharge revenue, but that source weakened during the pandemic and helped push the project back into uncertainty.

Lawmakers revived the effort in 2024 by allocating $3 million for the environmental review, including $2.4 million from the federal government. State Rep. David Tarnas said the goal is to finish the EIS so the project can qualify for the federal defense access roads list, a step that could open the door to Department of Defense money.

Supporters and transportation officials say the extension could ease congestion on Waikoloa and Kawaihae roads from military convoys and commercial trucks, particularly because Pōhakuloa sits along the existing corridor. For now, though, the open house showed a project with a long paper trail and a renewed political push, but still no final route, no construction schedule and no firm financing plan.