Kaua‘i Bus reroutes Līhu‘e shuttle for King Kamehameha Day parade

Riders on The Kaua‘i Bus Route 70 Līhue Shuttle will have to plan around a downtown closure that will cut through the heart of central Līhue. Rice Street will close from 8:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 13, for the King Kamehameha Day Parade and Celebration, and the shuttle will operate on a modified route during that window.

The County of Kaua‘i said the closure will disrupt several regular stops. Service will skip Rice Street and Hoolako Street on both sides, Rice Street and Hardy Street, Rice Street and Umi Street, Rice Street and Ewalu Street, and Rice Street and Kalena Street. Riders who need to stay on the corridor will be directed to the Eiwa Street Civic Center bus stop.

The timing will affect the 8:55 a.m. and 9:55 a.m. trips, with the 10:55 a.m. run also possibly affected if Rice Street remains closed past the parade window. The Kaua‘i Police Department’s traffic advisory refers to the event as the Kaua‘i King’s Parade and says the closures are expected to run until approximately 11 a.m., giving riders only a narrow morning window to move through town without delays.

That matters in Līhu‘e, where Route 70 is the island’s main shuttle serving the county seat and where shopping, work sites, government offices, and transit connections cluster along the same short stretch of road. The Kaua‘i Bus schedule for Route 70 says routes and schedules are subject to change without notice, and county fixed-route service runs Monday through Saturday.

The parade route will again put transit and traffic on the same streets. County road advisories said Hoolako Street will close from Vidinha Stadium to Rice Street, and Rice Street will close from Hoolako Street to Hardy Street. In a prior county parade notice, the route began at Vidinha Stadium, continued down Hoolako and Rice streets, and ended on Eiwa Street at the Historic County Building.

The closure also lands during the wider King Kamehameha Day observance. King Kamehameha V proclaimed the holiday on December 22, 1871, the first celebration was held on June 11, 1872, and the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission was established in 1939. State offices are closed on Thursday, June 11, 2026, for King Kamehameha Day, underscoring the holiday’s statewide significance even as local traffic controls concentrate the impact in downtown Līhue.