Remains won't hinder Maui highway reopening
By Claudine San Nicolas
The Maui News
WAILUKU — The discovery of human remains in the vicinity of the Kaupo-Kipahulu rockfall project is not expected to delay the reopening of a portion of Piilani Highway in mid-October.
Destabilized by an earthquake in October 2006, the road was ordered closed two months later when then-Mayor Alan Arakawa observed massive boulders falling on the narrow coastal highway. The road closure has disrupted the lives of East Maui residents for nearly two years, and residents are looking forward to the road's reopening.
On Thursday, the Maui/Lanai Burial Council signed off on plans to ensure the proper care for burials found by an archaeological survey about 600 feet away from the site of the rockfall hazard mitigation project.
The council recommended that state, county and federal officials ensure the care, disposition and protection of any human remains found during the survey. Council members, acting on a motion made by Vice Chairman Scott Fisher, also recommended that officials include input from possible lineal descendants on the identification of any human remains and their cultural significance.
Senior archaeologist Mike Dega of SCS Archaeology told the council that a notice about the discovery of two unmarked burial sites containing human remains had been announced this week in a published legal notice.
According to the notice, the two burial sites are west of a small stretch of roadway near Alelele, within the county right of way and near Haleakala National Park boundaries. The unmarked burial sites are both presumed to contain Native Hawaiian remains.
Dega said a 30-day comment period about the unmarked burial sites has begun. In the meantime, he plans to develop a burial treatment site plan that will be presented to the burial council next month.
Meanwhile, Janod Contractors is scheduled to start work Monday on the last phase of a rockfall mitigation project to remove sections of the cliff face that were destabilized by the 2006 earthquakes. The contractor is expected to be in the area before Monday to do preliminary work before mobiizing work crews, equipment and materials.
In addition, Janod Contractors will be replacing barricades at Kalepa and Lelekea with gates that will be monitored by the the firm for the duration of the contract.
The cost of the last phase of the project is $5.6 million, which will be paid for by Maui County and reimbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Administration and state Civil Defense.
The scaling work is expected to be completed by mid-October, paving the way for the road's reopening.
"Given the immeasurable cultural and historic value of the place and the constraints of working with other government agencies, we have been moving forward as rapidly and sensitively as possible," Mayor Charmaine Tavares said in a news release.
"We are all looking forward to the completion of this final phase, which will once again link the Kaupo and Kipahulu communities via the historic Piilani Highway."
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