Skip to main content

Hawaii Route 310


Hawaii Route 310 is a 3.6-mile State Highway located on the Island of Maui.  Hawaii Route 310 begins at the junction of Hawaii Route 31/Hawaii Route 311 in Kihei and heads westward along Maalaea Bay toward a terminus at Hawaii Route 30.  Hawaii Route 310 follows North Kihei Road through it's entire routing and was once part of Hawaii Route 31.  The cover photo of this blog is an eastward view of Hawaii Route 310 facing towards Maalaea Bay, Kihei and Haleakala.  


Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 310

The Island of Maui seemingly was not part of the original World War II era Hawaii Route System.  Circa 1955 the United States Bureau of Public Roads renumbered the Hawaii Route System.  The 1955 Hawaii Route Renumbering saw most of the conventions utilized by the current Hawaii State Route System established.  Primary Hawaii Routes were given two-digit numbers whereas Secondary Hawaii Routes were given three-digit numbers.  The Hawaii Routes were assigned in sequence for what Island/County they were located on coupled with what Federal Aid Program number they were tied to.  In the case of the Island of Maui it was assigned numbers in the range of 30-40.  

Hawaii Route 31 as originally defined began at Hawaii Route 30 and followed what is now North Kihei Road and South Kihei Road into Kihei.  From Kihei the routing of Hawaii Route 31 is unclear and may have had a gap between Makena east towards Hawaii Route 37/Kula Highway.  From Hawaii Route 37/Kula Highway the routing of Hawaii Route 31 continued east via Piilani Highway towards Hawaii Route 36 in Hana.  Hawaii Route 31 as originally configured can be seen on the 1959 Gousha Map of Hawaii.  Hawaii Route 31 is noted to be a secondary highway.


During the 1960s the Hawaii Route system was simplified, and numerous segments of important roadways were adopted from the counties.  According hawaiihighways.com North Kihei Road was adopted as State Highway whereas South Kihei Road remained maintained by Maui County.  According to hawaiihighways.com North Kihei Road was reassigned as Hawaii Route 310 but remained field signed as Hawaii Route 31.  

During 1981 the first segment of the State Maintained Hawaii Route 31 on western Piilani Highway in Kihei opened.  During April 1981 Hawaii Route 310 was extended 0.1 miles to reach the new alignment of Hawaii Route 31 in Kihei at western Piilani Highway.  


Part 2; a drive on Hawaii Route 310

Eastbound Hawaii Route 310 originates from Hawaii Route 30/Honoapiilani Highway near Maalaea.  


Hawaii Route 310 eastbound descends towards the waters of Maalaea Bay.  Traffic on Hawaii Route 310 can access Kealia Pond the and Kealia Coastal Boardwalk.  








From Kealia Pond, Hawaii Route 310 continues eastward and intersects former Hawaii Route 31 South Kihei Road.  





Hawaii Route 310 eastbound terminates at the intersection of Hawaii Route 31 and Hawaii Route 311 at the outskirts of Kihei.  



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Route 75 Tunnel - Ironton, Ohio

In the Ohio River community of Ironton, Ohio, there is a former road tunnel that has a haunted legend to it. This tunnel was formerly numbered OH 75 (hence the name Route 75 Tunnel), which was renumbered as OH 93 due to I-75 being built in the state. Built in 1866, it is 165 feet long and once served as the northern entrance into Ironton, originally for horses and buggies and later for cars. As the tunnel predated the motor vehicle era, it was too narrow for cars to be traveling in both directions. But once US 52 was built in the area, OH 93 was realigned to go around the tunnel instead of through the tunnel, so the tunnel was closed to traffic in 1960. The legend of the haunted tunnel states that since there were so many accidents that took place inside the tunnel's narrow walls, the tunnel was cursed. The haunted legend states that there was an accident between a tanker truck and a school bus coming home after a high school football game on a cold, foggy Halloween night in 1