Skip to main content

Banyan Drive

By

Banyan Drive is an approximately one-mile-long scenic street located on the Waiakea Peninsula of Hilo.  Banyan Drive is lined with approximately fifty of the namesake trees which have survived numerous tsunamis on Hilo Bay.  Banyan Drive was developed in 1933 and has become one of the more well-known attractions in the Hilo area.  


This page is part of the Gribblenation Hawaii Roads series.  A compellation of all Hawaii-related media from both Gribblenation and RoadwayWiz can be found by clicking here. 




Part 1; the history of Banyan Drive

Banyan Drive circles the Waiakea Peninsula of Hilo.  The peninsula can be seen just prior to the creation of Banyan Drive on the 1932 United States Geological Survey map of Hilo.  


In 1933 numerous Hilo community members floated the concept for a Banyan tree-lined street which would be planted by celebrities.  Banyan Drive was constructed on Waiakea Peninsula and was surfaced initially with crushed coral.  The initial eight trees of Banyan Drive were planted during October 1933 and were viewed by President Franklin Roosevelt when he toured Hilo in 1934.

Over the years numerous additional trees have been planted along Banyan Drive:

1934:  10 trees
1935:  15 trees
1936:  6 trees 
1937:  5 trees
1938:  4 trees
1941:  2 trees
1952:  1 tree
1972:  2 trees
1992:  1 tree (which was a replacement for one lost in a tsunami)

The trees of Banyan Drive have remained resilient despite having withstood numerous tsunamis rising out of Hilo Bay.   Fifty trees still line Banyan Drive into modern times.  The trees bear the names of the planting celebrities.  



Part 2; a ride along Banyan Drive

Banyan Drive can be accessed from Hawaii Route 19 (Kamehameha Avenue) by turning north onto Lihiwai Street.  Banyan Drive is accessible via a right-hand turn from northbound Lihiwai Street.  





Banyan Drive loops Waiakea Peninsula to Hawaii Routes 11 and 19 at the intersection of Kamehameha Avenue and Kanoelehua Avenue.  Banyan Drive is lined with the namesake trees and passes by notable places such as Liliuokalani Gardens.  






















Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

By
Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 78

By
California State Route 78 is a 194-mile east/west State Highway located in southern California.  California State Route 78 begins at Interstate 5 in Oceanside of San Diego County and terminates at Interstate 10 near Blythe of Riverside County.  California State Route 78 between Interstate 5 and Interstate 15 is aligned on the Ronald Packard Parkway over the corridor traditionally known as the Anza Freeway.  California State Route 78 east of Interstate 15 climbs over mountain grades into the Sonoran Desert where it become a largely rural highway.  The blog cover photo above is California State Route 78 on Vista Avenue between Oceanside and Vista as seen in the 1955 California Highways & Public Works.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 78 Disclaimer; the pre-State Highway history and Glamis Road elements of this blog are sourced from newspaper references attributed to AAroads forum user rschen7754 .  User rschen7754 was the primary Wikip...
Post a Comment
Read more