Fallen Tree Closes Kuhio Highway Lane Near Kalihiwai Bridge

A fallen tree blocked the Lihue-bound lane of Kuhio Highway south of Kalihiwai Bridge for the better part of a Sunday afternoon on March 15, part of a broader wave of post-storm road impacts that stretched across the Hawaiian Islands.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation posted the alert at 1:16 p.m., noting that the Kauai Police Department was already on scene and that an HDOT crew was en route with an estimated arrival of 90 minutes. "Downed tree blocking the Lihue-bound lane of Kuhio Highway south of Kalihiwai Bridge. KPD is onsite and HDOT crew is on the way with an ETA of 90 min," the post read.

By 4 p.m., Kauai traffic monitors confirmed the obstruction was gone. "The downed tree on Kuhio Highway south of Kalihiwai Bridge has been removed," the update stated. The sources do not specify which crew performed the removal, the exact time workers arrived on scene, or whether any vehicles or people were affected during the roughly two-and-a-half-hour window between the initial alert and the clearance notice.

The Kuhio Highway incident was one of numerous storm-related road disruptions logged across the state that day. On Maui, crews were simultaneously working a tree at mile marker 10 on Hana Highway, where one lane remained open while non-essential traffic was being held at Twin Falls near mile marker 2. Crater Road on Maui was restricted to local traffic only by early afternoon. Later that evening, large rocks and debris blocked at least one lane of Honoapiilani Highway on the Lahaina side of the Olowalu Tunnel, with a crew nearly finished clearing the scene by 5:59 p.m.

On Hawaii Island, Highway 11 between mile markers 52 and 62 was open by early afternoon, though cleanup continued between the Kau Baseyard and Pinao Street at mile markers 62 through 66, with alternating traffic allowed through. Oahu had faced its own tree-related closures two days earlier, on March 13, when Kalanianaole Highway was shut in both directions between Tinker Road and Aloiloi Street in Waimanalo, with no open alternate routes between Kailua and Hawaii Kai due to concurrent flooding.

Kauai itself had seen an earlier clearance that same March 13 morning, when debris on Kuhio Highway at mile marker 1 was reported cleared at 7 a.m., a separate incident from the Kalihiwai Bridge blockage two days later.

The sources describe the March 15 disruptions collectively as "part of post-storm impacts" but do not name a specific storm or provide meteorological details.