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.

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 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.

Comments

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism. Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns. Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s. Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center. When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond. It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley. Thu...

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor. Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today. The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45). After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government. Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941. The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley. This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...