Hawaii County Route 180 is an approximately 9.1-mile segment of the Big Island's Mamalahoa Highway. The corridor was designated as Hawaii Route 18 during 1955. As originally configured the highway spanned from Hawaii Route 11 north to Hawaii Route 19 near Palani Junction. Hawaii Route 18 was removed from the State Highway System during the late 1970s and redesignated as Hawaii County Route 180 following a realignment of Hawaii Route 11 south of Kailua-Kona.
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Hawaii County Route 180 is part of Mamalahoa Highway which was part of the original Big Island belt road and once Hawaii Route 18. Mamalahoa Highway was declared by royal decree in 1783 via the Law of the Splintered Paddle. The law was conceived based off an incident Kamehameha I was part of along the Puna coast. During said incident Kamehameha I and his men were conducting a shoreline raid when they encountered two Puna fisherman. While pursuing the fisherman across a lava field one of Kamehameha's feet was caught in a rock. The fishermen seized upon the opportunity to retaliate and struck Kamehameha in the head with a wooden paddle.
Kamehameha opted to not retaliate against the fisherman and used the incident as the basis of the Law of the Splintered Paddle. The law essentially guaranteed safe passage to all travelers across the Hawaiian Islands and was used as a basis of Mamalahoa Highway on the Big Island. The highway corridor was rapidly developed across the Big Island and was mostly annexed as early automotive roads.
In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was modified and expanded to the Big Island. The majority of Mamalahoa Highway was designated as parts of Hawaii Routes 11 and 19 except for around Kailua-Kona. Hawaii Route 11 entered Kailua-Kona via Kuakini Highway where it met Hawaii Route 19 at Palani Drive. The portion of Mamalahoa Highway not serving Kailua-Kong was assigned as Hawaii Route 18.
Hawaii Route 18 can be seen on the 1959 Gousha map of Hawaii. The highway is shown beginning at Hawaii Route 11 near Keauhou and terminating to the north at Hawaii Route 19/Palani Junction near Honokohau.
The first map to display Hawaii Route 18 reassigned as Hawaii County Route 180 is the 1983 United States Geological Survey map of Kailua-Kona (at Palani Junction, courtesy historicaerials.com).
Hawaii Route 18 was likely dropped from the State Highway System following the extension of Queen Kaahumanu Highway in 1976 south of Palani Drive (Hawaii Route 18) south to Mamalahoa Highway near Captain Cook. This extension realigned Hawaii Route 11 off of Kuakini Highway.
Part 2; a drive on Hawaii County Route 180
Southbound Hawaii County Route 180 begins at Hawaii Route 190 at Palani Junction. Mamalahoa Highway is carried from Hawaii Route 190 onto Hawaii County Route 180 towards Holualoa. Hawaii Route 190 continues south on Palani Drive to Hawaii Route 11 and Hawaii Route 19 in Kailua-Kona.
Southbound Hawaii County Route 180 traffic is warned of 4.5 miles of winding road ahead to Holualoa.
Southbound Hawaii County Route 180 passes through the heart of Holualoa and intersects Hawaii County Route 182 at Hualalai Road.
Hawaii County Route 180 continues south on Mamalahoa Highway to Haawina Street where Hawaii Route 18 would have once ended at Hawaii Route 11. Hawaii County Route 180 makes a brief jog west on Haawina Street to now reaches the modern alignment of Hawaii Route 11 at Queen Kaahumanu Highway.
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