Skip to main content

Hawaii County Route 132

By


Hawaii County Route 132 is a 7.8-mile highway in the Lower Puna Coast area of the Big Island.  The highway begins at Hawaii Route 130 near Pahoa and follows Pahoa-Kapoho Road east to the now destroyed junction with Hawaii County Route 137.  Hawaii County Route 132 prior the eruption of 1960 once continued east to point Cape Kumukahi.  Portions of the highway near Kapoho were covered by lava from the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption in the Kapoho area and have recently been rebuilt.  



Part 1; the history of Hawaii County Route 132

In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to the Big Island.  Hawaii Route 132 was established as running along Pahoa-Kapoho Road from Hawaii Route 13 in Pahoa east to Cape Kumukahi.  According to Oscar Voss's hawaiihighways.com the original scale of Hawaii Route 132 was 9.4 miles.  

Hawaii Route 132 can be seen on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Hawaii.  


Hawaii Route 132 was ultimately transferred to Hawaii County following Hawaii becoming the fiftieth state on August 21, 1959.  On January 12, 1960, a series of earthquakes began in Kapoho which culminated in an eruption (out of what is now Kapoho Crater) the next day.  On January 28th, lava entered Kapoho itself and destroyed most of the town.  The eruption also destroyed Hawaii County Route 132 east of Hawaii County Route 137 towards Kumukahi Point.  

Following the 1960 eruption the segment of Hawaii County Route 132 east of Hawaii County Route 137 was abandoned.   The segment of the highway in Kapoho itself was repaired for Hawaii County at the behest of the Hawaii Department of Transportation.  

The 1965 United States Geological Survey map of Kapoho displays the rebuilt Hawaii County Route 132 terminating at Hawaii County Route 137.  Kapoho more or less is just seen as a name on the map next to Kapoho Crater.  The so-called "Green Lake" can be seen withing Kapoho Crater itself. 


During May 2018 the East Rift Zone of Kilauea began to erupt through numerous fissures near Kapoho.  On May 19th lava began covering Hawaii County Route 137 and flowing into the Pacific Ocean.  The flows turned northeast and covered Hawaii County Route 132 on May 29th.  The subdivisions of Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacation Land Hawaii were both destroyed by the eruptions.  The Green Lake withing Kapoho Crater was boiled away by lava during early June.  Eruption activity subsided by August 2018 after almost three months.

Hawaii County Route 132 was subsequently rebuilt to where it once terminated at Hawaii County Route 137.  The purpose of Hawaii County Route 132 being reconstructed was to provide roadway access to northbound Kalapana-Kapoho Road.  Hawaii County Route 137 now terminates near Issac Hale Park east of Pohoiki Road. 



Part 2; a drive on Hawaii County Route 132

Hawaii County Route 132 eastbound can be seen below approaching Pohoiki Road (Josh Schmid photos).  Pohoiki Road south to Hawaii County Route 137 has been mostly destroyed by lava flow.  




Hawaii County Route 132 now crosses over a lava field where Kapoho once stood (Josh Schmid photos).  Kapoho was once located on the Hawaii Consolidated Railway which connected the sugar cane community to Hilo.







Hawaii County Route 132 terminates at Kalapana-Kapoho Road.  The now destroyed portion of Hawaii County Route 137 would have begun on the right.  Hawaii County Route 132 once continued straight towards Cape Kumukahi. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

New Idria Road to the New Idria ghost town

By
New Idria Road is an approximately 21.5-mile rural highway located in the Diablo Range of San Benito County.  From Panoche Road to approximately 20.6 miles to the south the corridor is maintained as the paved San Benito County Road 107.  The remaining 0.9 miles to the New Idria ghost town are no longer maintained and have eroded into a high clearance dirt roadway.  Upon reaching New Idria the roadway continues south as Clear Creek Road which passes through the Bureau of Land Management owned Clear Creek Management Area.   The New Idria Mercury Mine claim was staked in 1854.  Following the theme set by New Almaden the community and mine of New Idria were named after the famous Slovenian mercury mining town of Idrija.  Following a slow start the mines of New Idria would boom and the community would reach a peak population of approximately 4,000 by 1880.  New Idria Road and Panoche Road were constructed to facilitate stage travel to San Juan Bautista...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more