Hawaii Route 56 is a 28-mile portion of Kuhio Highway on the island Kauai. This segment of Kuhio Highway begins at the Rice Street in Lihue and extends to Hawaii Route 560 in Princeville. The final 10 miles of Kuhio Highway to Kee Beach are carried by Hawaii Route 560.
Much of modern Kuhio Highway was constructed from 1893 through 1928. The Wailau River has had a highway crossing since 1895 and the corridor has the largest population center on Kauai in Kapaa. The entire 38 miles of Kuhio Highway was originally assigned as part of Hawaii Route 56 when the Hawaii Route System was expanded to Kauai in 1955. Much of modern Hawaii Route 56 would be developed during the 1960s and early 1970s.
The Princeville-Kee Beach of Kuhio Highway was renumbered as Hawaii Route 560 during the 1970s. The purpose of this renumbering was to denote a less modern design standard on the last 10 miles of Kuhio Highway.
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 Kuhio Highway (Hawaii Routes 56 and 560)
Hawaii Routes 56 and 560 both components of the 38-mile long Kuhio Highway. Hawaii Route 56 begins in Lihue at Rice Street and terminates after 28 miles at Hawaii Route 560 in Princeville. The remaining 10 miles are carried by Hawaii Route 560 to the end of the roadway at Kee Beach in Haena State Park. Kuhio Highway is part of the larger Kauai Belt Road.
Kuhio Highway is named in honor of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole. Kūhiō was born on the island of Kauai in Koloa on March 26, 1871. Kūhiō was a prince of the Kingdom of Hawaii when it was overthrown by a coalition of American and European businessmen in 1893. He would later go onto become the delegate to Congress representing the Territory of Hawaii. Kūhiō is the only member of United States Congress to have ever come from a royal lineage. Kūhiō would die on January 7, 1922.
The history of Kuhio Highway is extensively documented in a United States Department of the Interior application to the National Register of Historical Places dated September 5, 2000. The application is heavily focused on the history of the portion of Kuhio Highway comprised by Hawaii Route 560 but also details much of the overall history of the Kauai Belt Road.
In the final decades of the 19th century there was a rough collection of roadways which connected Lihue to the Emmaville (now Princeville) area. Much of these roadways were constructed at the behest of commercial interests at the major plantations in locales such as Kapaa and Emmaville.
The first bridge over the Hanalei River had been constructed in 1893. The bridge was accessed via a switchback road which descended Hanalei Hill from the ranch at Emmaville. This switchback road was steep, and wagons were required to use a team of cowboys to traverse. The roadway ended in Hanalei and travelers needed to follow the shoreline on foot or horseback west to Kee Beach. This early roadway to Hanalei is described in an 1895 report by Eric Knudson.
In 1900 the territorial government purchased a steel bridge from White & Whitehouse to be placed at the Hanalei River. This structure was a direct replacement for the 1893-era span which likely was constructed of timber materials. By 1904 timber bridges at been installed west of Hanalei at Waipo Stream, Waikoko Stream and Wainiha River. A steel bridge was constructed at the Lumahai River in 1905 which functionally made the community of Haena accessible by road for the first time.
In 1911 the territorial legislature established a loan fund which provided revenue to construct belt roads on the Hawaiian Islands. A Loan Fund Commission was established for each inhabited island. The commission on Kauai was early to act and moved to construct numerous bridges over the island over the next five years to complete the Kauai Belt Road.
In 1911 the Kauai Loan Fund Commission initiated a project to construct the Hanalei Grade and a new truss bridge at the Hanalei River. The Hanalei Grade replaced the earlier Hanalei Hill switchback road and was completed by March 1912. The Hanalei Grade carried a sustained 6% incline which made the roadway far more accessible to vehicles.
The Hanalei River truss bridge was prefabricated by Hamilton & Chambers Company in New York at the behest of the Honolulu Iron Works Company. This span is 113-foot-long span was installed at the Hanalei River and opened to traffic by the end of 1912.
During May 1912 the Kauai Loan Fund Commission authorized the replacement of the timber bridges at Waikoko Stream, Waipa Stream and Waioil Stream with concrete spans. Contracts were quickly let which led to all of the structures being replaced by the end of the year. To the east of the Hanalei River another concrete bridge had been constructed at Kilauea Stream in the community of Kilauea.
In 1915 completion of the Kauai Belt Road entered its final phase when Kauai County Supervisor proposed a $100,000 bond to construct the highway from Mana (near Barking Sands Beach) northeast to Haena (now Kauai County Route 552, Hawaii Route 550 and Kokee Road). The purpose of this bond was to accelerate roadway construction so that the Belt Road could be completed by 1917. It was estimated that the roadway wouldn't be finished until 1923 using Loan Fund Commission money.
Ultimately the $100,000 bond measure failed to pass and Kokee Road would never reach Haena. Funding was refocused in 1916 towards paving the segment of the Kauai Belt Road (then known as the Hanalei Road) from Haena eastward to Moloaa Stream. By the end of the year the Garden Island newspaper would tout the Kauai Belt Road as the first to be complete. This boast was despite the fact that the Kauai Belt Road only traversed about half the island.
In 1919 a concrete pony arch bridge was constructed at the Wailua River as a replacement for the 1895 span. The 1919-era bridge can be seen below shortly after being constructed in Garden Island photo. In 1920 the Ahukini Terminal Railway would also construct a bridge at the Wailua River.
In January 1921 the Wainiha River cut a new channel during a storm which required a third highway bridge to be built. Plans for this bridge (Wainiha Bridge #2) were drafted during February 1922 and called for a timber truss. It isn't clear what kind of interim structures were put in place, but Kauai County bridge records indicate Bridge #1 was constructed in 1922 whereas Bridge #2 and Bridge #3 were constructed in 1931.
Both Kuhio Highway and the Ahukini Terminal Railway can be seen passing through downtown Kapaa on this northbound facing photo dated July 6, 1924.
In 1945 the 1919-era Wailua River Bridge was replaced with the span which currently carries the southbound lanes of Hawaii Route 56. The 1945 span is a tee-beam design which made it more resilient to the effects of corrosion.
The April Fools 1946 Tidal Wave would destroy two of the Wainiha River Bridges. These two spans were replaced by timber spans before the end of 1946. The Waikoko Stream Bridge was also damaged by the same tidal wave but was quickly repaired.
In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to Kauai. Hawaii Route 56 was initially assigned to the entire corridor of Kuhio Highway between Lihue and Kee Beach.
On March 9, 1957, three tidal waves destroyed the Wainiha River Bridges. The only portion of the three bridges to survive was the east span of Wainiha Bridge #3. The structures were quickly repaired, and Kuhio Highway was reopened to Haena. During December 1957 flooding from Hurricane Nina would damage Wainiha Bridge #3 again. This flooding would also destroy the Kalihiwai River Bridge near what is now Princeville.
Hawaii Route 56 can be seen fully aligned on Kuhio Highway between Lihue and Kee Beach on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Hawaii. Hawaii would become the 50th State on August 21, 1959, and the Ahukini Terminal Railway would shutter by the end of the year.
Following the destruction of the Kalihiwai River Bridge in 1957 a temporary span was put in place. Hawaii Route 56 would be rerouted inland to a new alignment which was above the flood prone terrain. The original alignment of Hawaii Route 56 is now known as Kalihiwai Road.
In 1965 Hawaii Route 56 was realigned onto a bypass of what is now Koolau Road. The modern highway alignment is located inland a more favorable crossing of Moloaa Stream. The Lumahai River Bridge would be replaced with the current span in 1968.
In 1968 the Hawaii Routes and County Routes were split into separate systems. The entirety of Kuhio Highway was fully transferred to the Hawaii Department of Transportation for maintenance. During the early 1970s the final 10 miles of Kuhio Highway was from Princeville to Kee Beach would be renumbered as Hawaii Route 560. The purpose of this renumbering was to denote the lesser standard of maintenance compared to the segment of Kuhio Highway from Lihue to Princeville.
In 1973 Hawaii Route 56 would be realigned onto a bypass of Kilauea. The original highway alignment is now known as Kolo Road.
In 1974 the Hawaii Department Transportation proposed replacing the 1912-era Hanalei River Bridge. The proposed replacement bridge included ramp structures and a bypass of the Hanalei Grade. When the project Environmental Impact Statement was released, it was met with massive public resistance towards any expansion to the Hawaii Route 560. A rendering the proposed Hanalei River Bridge can be seen below (courtesy Historic Hawaii).
In 2003 the Hanalei River Bridge was refurbished with higher strength truss steel. The span was rededicated on November 9, 2003. On February 11, 2004, the entire Hawaii Route 560 portion of Kuhio Highway was added to the National Register of Historical Places and site #03001048. In 2005 the Hawaii Department of Transportation released a Hawaii Route 560 Historic Roadway Corridor Plan. The purpose of said plan was to study ways to preserve the current characteristics of Hawaii Route 560, namely the many one-lane bridges.
Following the addition of Hawaii Route 560 to the National Register of Historical Places all three Wainiha River Bridges were improved. The decks of all three spans were replaced with prefabricated designs from the Acrow bridge company.
In 2009 the Ahukini Terminal Railway Bridge at the Wailua River was converted to northbound Hawaii Route 56 usage. The railroad deck was replaced with a prefabricated design sourced from the Acrow Bridge company. The 1945-era Wailua River Bridge was converted to southbound travel only.
In 2019 the Waikoko Stream Bridge and Waipa Stream Bridge was replaced with a modernized one-lane concrete spans. These modern spans emulate the design of the original 1910s era structures.
Part 2; a drive on Hawaii Route 56
Hawaii Route 56 begins in Lihue at the terminus of Hawaii Route 50 (Kaumauali Highway) at Rice Street.
Hawaii Route 56 is initially oriented in a northbound direction and passes through downtown Lihue where it intersects Hawaii Route 570 at Ahukini Road. Lihue historically was a small village which has been continuously occupied since pre-European contact. The town was formally named in 1837 by Royal Governor Kaikio'ewa when he relocated the Kauai governing seat from Waimea. The town has remained a commercial hub on Kauai and was selected as the Kauai County upon it being created in 1905.
Hawaii Route 56 departs Lihue and intersects Hawaii Route 583 at Maloo Road.
Hawaii Route 56 crosses Hanamaulu Stream and ascends to Hawaii Route 51. Northbound Hawaii Route 56 makes a left-hand turn at the Hawaii Route 51 junction towards Kapaa.
Northbound Hawaii Route 56 gains an extra travel lane and crosses over the 1920-Ahukini Terminal Railway Bridge at the Wailua River into Kapaa. The extra lane is alternated to serve southbound traffic departing Kapaa to Lihue during morning hours. The Wailua River is the only such body of water navigable by large ships in Hawaii.
Hawaii Route 56 passes Hawaii Route 580 at Kuamoo Road.
Hawaii Route 56 enters downtown Kapaa and intersects Kauai County Route 581 at Kukui Street. Kapaa was established in 1877 when 13,400 acres of land were leased to the Makee Sugar Planation. The venture was initially unsuccessful since the operators had little to no experience with processing sugar. Operations turned around and Kapaa began to boom into a modern plotted town site. Ultimately the Makee Sugar Plantation was sold to the much larger Lihue Sugar Plantation in 1916.
Hawaii Route 56 passes the northern end of Hawaii Route 5600 approaching Hauaala Road.
Hawaii Route 56 departs Kapaa at Kapaa Stream and passes Kealia Beach.
Hawaii Route 56 begins to turn northwest. As the highway passes through the community of Anahola and Anahola Stream the peak of Kalalea Mountain can be seen overhead.
Departing Anahola traffic is advised that Kilauea is 9 miles ahead on Hawaii Route 56.
Hawaii Route 56 enters the Kilauea area where it intersects the original highway alignment at Koko Road. Koko Road can be used to reach the Kilauea Point Lighthouse.
Hawaii Route 56 crosses the modern Kalihiwai Stream Bridge.
Hawaii Route 56 enters Princeville and terminates at Mile Marker 28.00. The mileage resets as Kuhio Highway transitions over to Hawaii Route 560.
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