Skip to main content

Hawaii County Route 132

By


Hawaii County Route 132 is a 7.8-mile highway in the Lower Puna Coast area of the Big Island.  The highway begins at Hawaii Route 130 near Pahoa and follows Pahoa-Kapoho Road east to the now destroyed junction with Hawaii County Route 137.  Hawaii County Route 132 prior the eruption of 1960 once continued east to point Cape Kumukahi.  Portions of the highway near Kapoho were covered by lava from the 2018 Lower Puna Eruption in the Kapoho area and have recently been rebuilt.  

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 County Route 132

In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to the Big Island.  Hawaii Route 132 was established as running along Pahoa-Kapoho Road from Hawaii Route 13 in Pahoa east to Cape Kumukahi.  According to Oscar Voss's hawaiihighways.com the original scale of Hawaii Route 132 was 9.4 miles.  

Hawaii Route 132 can be seen on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Hawaii.  


Hawaii Route 132 was ultimately transferred to Hawaii County following Hawaii becoming the fiftieth state on August 21, 1959.  On January 12, 1960, a series of earthquakes began in Kapoho which culminated in an eruption (out of what is now Kapoho Crater) the next day.  On January 28th, lava entered Kapoho itself and destroyed most of the town.  The eruption also destroyed Hawaii County Route 132 east of Hawaii County Route 137 towards Kumukahi Point.  

Following the 1960 eruption the segment of Hawaii County Route 132 east of Hawaii County Route 137 was abandoned.   The segment of the highway in Kapoho itself was repaired for Hawaii County at the behest of the Hawaii Department of Transportation.  

The 1965 United States Geological Survey map of Kapoho displays the rebuilt Hawaii County Route 132 terminating at Hawaii County Route 137.  Kapoho more or less is just seen as a name on the map next to Kapoho Crater.  The so-called "Green Lake" can be seen withing Kapoho Crater itself. 


During May 2018 the East Rift Zone of Kilauea began to erupt through numerous fissures near Kapoho.  On May 19th lava began covering Hawaii County Route 137 and flowing into the Pacific Ocean.  The flows turned northeast and covered Hawaii County Route 132 on May 29th.  The subdivisions of Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacation Land Hawaii were both destroyed by the eruptions.  The Green Lake withing Kapoho Crater was boiled away by lava during early June.  Eruption activity subsided by August 2018 after almost three months.

Hawaii County Route 132 was subsequently rebuilt to where it once terminated at Hawaii County Route 137.  The purpose of Hawaii County Route 132 being reconstructed was to provide roadway access to northbound Kalapana-Kapoho Road.  Hawaii County Route 137 now terminates near Issac Hale Park east of Pohoiki Road. 



Part 2; a drive on Hawaii County Route 132

Hawaii County Route 132 eastbound can be seen below approaching Pohoiki Road (Josh Schmid photos).  Pohoiki Road south to Hawaii County Route 137 has been mostly destroyed by lava flow.  




Hawaii County Route 132 now crosses over a lava field where Kapoho once stood (Josh Schmid photos).  Kapoho was once located on the Hawaii Consolidated Railway which connected the sugar cane community to Hilo.







Hawaii County Route 132 terminates at Kalapana-Kapoho Road.  The now destroyed portion of Hawaii County Route 137 would have begun on the right.  Hawaii County Route 132 once continued straight towards Cape Kumukahi. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more