Rice Street lane closure planned for sewer manhole repair in Līhue
A Rice Street lane near Ōlelo Christian Academy will close Friday night for a sewer manhole ring repair, with flaggers and parking restrictions in place.
Night traffic on Rice Street in Līhue will narrow to a single lane near Ōlelo Christian Academy as Kauai County crews repair a broken sewer manhole ring from 7 p.m. Friday, June 5, until about 1 a.m. Saturday, June 6, weather permitting. The closure will affect commuters, parents picking up children, delivery drivers, and anyone moving through town after business hours.
The county said parking will be restricted in the work zones, and flaggers will be on site to direct traffic. Motorists are being told to use alternate routes, allow extra time, and plan ahead for delays as crews work in one of Līhue’s most heavily used corridors.
The repair falls under the Department of Public Works Wastewater Division, which handles sewage collection and treatment for county systems and carries out maintenance and repair work on county facilities and roads. The county says it owns and operates sewer systems in Līhue, Waimea, Eleele, Hanapēpē, Hanamaulu, and along Kūhiō Highway in the Wailua and Kapaa corridor, a reminder that routine maintenance often has to be done in place while traffic continues around it.
Rice Street has taken on added importance because it also houses key county offices, including the Public Information Office at 4444 Rice Street in Līhue. The corridor is a central route for school traffic, county business, and evening travel, so even a short closure can ripple through nearby pickup lines, storefronts, and late-night trips between downtown Līhue and surrounding neighborhoods.
Donald Fujimoto is the county contact for more information, and the published sewer information line is 808-241-4084. County records also show this is not the first Rice Street sewer-related disruption; a previous closure in 2021 was ordered to repair a damaged sewer manhole. The latest work again points to the same reality on Kauai: keeping aging utility infrastructure functioning often means brief but unavoidable interruptions on a road that many residents use every day.
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