Hawaii County Route 137 is a discontinues highway which exists on the Lower Puna Coast and Hilo areas of the Big Island. The Lower Puna Coast segment is 14.6 miles which once connected Hawaii Route 130 near Kalapana to Hawaii County Route 132 near Kapoho. The Hilo segment of Hawaii County Route 137 begins at the end of Hawaii Route 1370 and follows Kalanianaole Street 2.8 miles east to the end of the pavement. The two portions of Hawaii County Route 137 were once planned to be connected via an extension from near Kapoho to Hilo via the historic Puna Trail. Portions of the Lower Puna Coast segment east of Issac Hale Park were destroyed by the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption.
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Part 1; the history of Hawaii County Route 137
In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to the Big Island. Hawaii Route 137 was established as running along Kalapana-Kapoho Road from Hawaii Route 13 near Kalapana east to Hawaii Route 132 near Kapoho. According to Oscar Voss's hawaiihighways.com the original scale of Hawaii Route 137 was 17.6 miles.
Hawaii Route 137 can be seen on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Hawaii. Hawaii Route 137 was ultimately transferred to Hawaii County following Hawaii becoming the fiftieth state on August 21, 1959.
According to Oscar Voss's hawaiihighways.com a 1961 era Hawaii Department of Transportation document showed a proposed extension of Hawaii Route 12 renumbered as Hawaii Route 120. The corridor was planned corridor was branded as the 'Hilo-Keaukaha Escape Road." The extension would have followed the shoreline east of Hilo and gradually looped back to Hawaii Route 11 (Kanoelehua Avenue) approximately where present-day Puainako Street now is located. Hawaii Route 120 would have tied in with a planned northern extension of Hawaii County Route 137 along northern Kalapana-Kapoho Road and the Puna Trail.
A 2005 draft Hawaii County planning document rejected a coastal highway connecting the Hilo and Puna districts. The rationale for rejection was that the proposed road would be inordinately vulnerable to tsunamis and lava flows. Following the release of the document the Hawaii Department of Transportation relinquished much of Hawaii Route 120 save for the section between Kuhio Street and Pua Avenue. The remaining balance of Kalanianole Street east of Pua Avenue was reassigned as a disconnected segment of Hawaii County Route 137.
Kalanianole Street from Kuhio Street to Pua Avenue was renumbered as Hawaii Route 1370 in reference to Hawaii County Route 137. The corridor was kept in the state highway system to provide a Hawaii Department of Transportation maintained connection from the Port of Hilo Entrance (Hawaii Route 19 at Kuhio Street) east to the University of Hawaii at Hilo Pacific Aquaculture & Coastal Resources Center.
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; scenes from the Puna Coast segment of Hawaii County Route 137
The Puna Coast segment of Hawaii County Route 137 begins at Hawaii Route 130 near Kalapana (Scott Onson photo). Following eruption activity in 1990 traffic is now required to a brief detour on Pahoa-Kalapana Road to reach Hawaii County Route 137 at Kalapana-Kapoho Road.
Since 2018 the eastern terminus of Hawaii County Route 132 has been rebuilt to where it once met Hawaii County Route 137. The Puna Coast segment of Hawaii County Route 137 remains severed from near Issac Hale Park to Hawaii County Route 132. Despite the junction functionally no longer existing it is still signed from Hawaii County Route 132 (Scott Onson photos).
Part 3; Hawaii Route 1370 and the northern segment of Hawaii County Route 137
Below Hawaii Route 1370 can be seen on the 2022 Hawaii Department of Transportation map of the Big Island. The 0.2-mile highway is not sign posted in-field.
Below Kalanianole Street can be seen east from Silva Street and Kuhio Street (Hawaii Route 19). The corridor of Hawaii Route 1370 ends a short distance ahead at Pua Avenue. From Pua Avenue the remaining balance of Kalanianole Street eastward is carried by the northern segment of Hawaii County Route 137.
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