By Yiming Fu, Report for America corps member
A 5-mile recreational trail and bike path connecting Lahaina Civic Center to Laniupoko Beach will start construction in 2028, providing a much-needed walking alternative to the congested and dangerous single-lane Honoapiilani Highway.
The project will make the community safer and walkable, connecting residents with their workplaces, grocery stores, post office and laundromats by foot. The Greenway could also include educational kiosks, native planting and help restore Native land stewardship.
The Greenway will also provide an alternative fire escape route, an emergency vehicle access route and a fuel break that will make the community more fire resilient.
Ready to roll
The county announced they received $15 million in RAISE grant funding on January 16, giving the green light to a project that has been proposed for more than ten years.
Jennifer Maydan, Maui County’s executive assistant in the Office of Recovery, said this money is enough to fund construction of the whole 5-mile segment.
The $15 million will go to retaining a consultant team, environmental permitting and planning, stakeholder and community engagement, acquiring right-of-way and construction.
The county estimates construction will begin in 2028 and the West Maui Greenway will open to the public in 2033.
Maydan said the grant money comes with hard deadlines for finishing construction. For the first two or three years, the county will conduct an environmental assessment, acquire permits and finalize the route with community engagement.
The county plans to start construction in 2028 and estimates the construction will take five years.
“Being 5+ miles, with many different intersections to make it really safe for crossings, it is a significant construction project. It is projected construction finished, open to the public somewhere around 2033.”
A project like this takes time to plan and construct to make sure it’s safe. Maydan said she knows it will be a long wait, and the county will continue to tell the community what’s going on and keep them engaged.
Community Benefits
West Maui residents have advocated for a Greenway since 2014, conducting bike rides with Maui County councilmembers and winning the support of then-mayor Alan Arakawa. The project has received funding from the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance as well as the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
A 2017 study by Anthology Marketing Group found 70% of West Maui residents identified traffic as the most important issue, specifically citing the lack of alternative routes, too many cars, a need for additional lanes and too many tourists and rental cars.
This congestion is dangerous for residents. The Honoapiilani Highway is the only route connecting Lahaina to the rest of Maui. Many of the 100+ casualties in last August’s fires were because evacuees were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the single-lane Honoapiilani Highway.
The Greenway will make Lahaina more fire-safe by bringing water-rich vegetation back to the town formerly known as “The Venice of the Pacific.” Lahaina’s current landscape is filled with dry invasive grasses that burn quickly.
With strong community support, the Greenway became one of the projects in Lahaina’s Long-Term Recovery Plan, which was released in December.
Maydan hopes the Greenway will be a part of Lahaina’s healing and bring back a community feel as people return to their burned-down hometown.
“It can serve such a form-giving element to the town as Lahaina builds back. As people start to come back to their community and really rebuild what is a community, beyond just the structures.”
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