Hawaii Route 139

Hawaii Route 139 is a 1.5-mile-long state highway located on the Hawaiian Big Island in the community of Keaau. The corridor follows the original alignment of Hawaii Route 130 (formerly Hawaii Route 13) along Keaau-Pahoa Road. Hawaii Route 139 was created in 1999 when the parent highway Hawaii Route 130 was moved to Keaau-Pahoa Bypass. The corridor was intended to be relinquished to Hawaii County in 2008, but this was never acted upon.

Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 139

During 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to the Big Island. The existing highway between Kapaahu (near Kalapana and the coastal Hawaii Volcanoes National Park boundary) and Keaau was assigned as Hawaii Route 13. Hawaii Route 13 can be seen on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Hawaii.

Hawaii Route 13 within Keaau initially was aligned on Keaau-Pahoa Road. The highway was renumbered to Hawaii Route 130 in the 1970s which denoted it to be a secondary corridor. In 1999 the original alignment of Hawaii Route 130 in Keaau was renumbered as Hawaii Route 139. The mainline highway was realigned onto the Keaau-Pahoa Bypass Road. Hawaii Route 139 was intended to be relinquished to Hawaii County in 2008, but this action was never carried out.

The current alignments of Hawaii Routes 130 and 139 in Keaau can be seen on the 2017 United States Geological Survey map of Keaau.

The start of Hawaii Route 139 can be seen below in Keaau from Hawaii Route 11. Kalapana is listed as a control destination at 22 miles away despite having been destroyed in 1990 by lava flows.

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