Waikoloa Village residents renew push for second access road
With 7,000 residents and more than 1,000 homes planned, Waikoloa Village still has one main way out. A second road is now being pushed as an evacuation necessity, not a wish list item.
Waikoloa Village’s single-road layout has become a public-safety problem, not just a traffic annoyance. About 7,000 full-time residents depend on Waikoloa Road as the normal way in and out, while more than 1,000 additional homes are planned or already rising along the community’s northern edge. That has turned evacuation planning into a question of how quickly thousands of people could leave if wildfire, a medical emergency, or a crash cut off the one main route.
County planners have been warning about the pressure for years. A 2019 South Kohala Community Development Plan subcommittee report said planning for Waikoloa Village’s future should include “concrete plans for a second access road in the next 10 years,” and county records continue to describe steady growth in population, housing and commerce. In January 2026, Hawaii County launched an evacuation-traffic study with KLD Associates under contract to Civil Defense to examine the existing street network, including Waikoloa Road and the Hulu Street emergency route, along with future needs.
The urgency is rooted in wildfire experience across Hawaii Island. The 2021 Mana Road Fire burned more than 42,000 acres, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Hawaii Emergency Management Agency later said it destroyed two homes and scorched more than 40,000 acres. County records also show Hawaii County secured nearly $1.2 million in reimbursement-related expenses tied to the response. For Waikoloa Village drivers, the fire made a familiar problem impossible to ignore: residents trying to evacuate on Waikoloa Road were stuck in traffic for hours.
County evacuation drills already use the Hulu Street route to Queen Kaahumanu Highway, but that is still an emergency route, not a permanent second road. Drivers leaving that route are sent north on Queen Kaahumanu Highway, while southbound traffic is rerouted at Puako to turn around. The drills involve Civil Defense, the Police Department, the Waikoloa Community Emergency Response Team and the Waikoloa Village Association Firewise Committee. A March 2026 county meeting packet called construction of a permanent two-lane road from Waikōloa Village to Queen Kaahumanu Highway the “top priority” identified.
The pressure is only growing as more housing comes online. Local reporting in 2024 described a new affordable housing project slated for Waikoloa Village, and county news in May 2026 announced Nā Hale Makoa, a new affordable workforce rental housing community, had been dedicated there. For residents, the road debate now sits at the intersection of growth and safety: without a second paved access from the north end of the village to Queen Kaahumanu Highway near Puako Beach Road, the next major evacuation could again funnel too many people into one narrow exit.
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