Skip to main content

Hawaii Route 51

By

Hawaii Route 51 is an approximately 3.4-mile State Highway on the island of Kauai.  Hawaii Route 51 begins at Hawaii Route 56 (Kuhio Highway) and follows Kapule Highway southward into Lihue.  Within Lihue the corridor of Hawaii Route 51 follows Rice Street and Waapa Road to a terminus at Hawaii Route 58 at Nawiliwili Bay.  

The portion of Hawaii Route 51 now aligned on Rice Street was originally part of Hawaii Route 50.  Hawaii Route 51 was designated during the early 1970s when Hawaii Route 50 was truncated back to Hawaii Route 56 in downtown Lihue.  The extension of Hawaii Route 51 along Kapule Highway was built in segments which was fully complete by August 1988.  Kapule Highway serves as a bypass of downtown Lihue which permits direct access to Lihue Airport from Kapaa. 

Pictured as the blog cover is the Old Rice Street Bridge at Nawiliwili Stream.  This bridge was constructed in 1920 and was replaced by the current span carrying Hawaii Route 51 circa 1933.  


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 2; the history of Hawaii Route 51

Hawaii Route 570 serves as the main entrance to Lihue Airport by way of Ahukini Road.  The origin of Lihue Airport began in 1944 when the Civil Aeronautics Administration deemed Port Allen Airport as being insufficient to accommodate even two-engine aircraft.  The Civil Aeronautics Administration was unwilling to commit money into Port Allen Airport after World War II.  The Hawaiian Territorial Department of Public Works also made a determination that Barking Sands Field was too far away from the population centers of Kauai.  

Three sites for Class IV airport were considered at Lihue, Port Allen and Makahuena Point.   During July 1946 the Territorial Department of Public Works made a formal recommendation for a new airport at Lihue.  Ultimately legislation was passed by the territorial government to fund construction of Lihue Airport during 1947, and construction groundbreaking ceremony would be held on October 28, 1948.  The runway facilities at Lihue Airport would be complete by October 1949 which was followed by completion of the terminal building during January 1950.  Existing Ahukini Road served as the then new airport entrance road.  

Lihue Airport can be seen served by Ahukini Road on the 1954 United States Geological Survey map of Kauai.  Ahukini Road would later become Hawaii Route 57 from Kuhio Highway east to the Lihue Airport entrance.  The corridor and is now designated as Hawaii Route 570. 


In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to Kauai.  Hawaii Route 50 was designated the primary highway along the southern shore of the island.  Hawaii Route 50 began at Bonham Air Force Base near Mana and followed Kaumauli Highway eastward into downtown Lihue.  From downtown Lihue the corridor of Hawaii Route 50 followed Rice Street to Hawaii Route 501 near the port facilities at Nawiliwili Bay.  Hawaii Route 50 from Bonham Air Force Base to Lihue can be seen on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Kauai.  On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th State.


Hawaii Route 50 along Rice Street can be seen in detail on the 1963 United States Geological Survey map of Lihue.  


During the early 1970s Rice Street was renumbered as Hawaii Route 51.  The corridor was partially realigned by the early 1980s when the first segment of Kapule Highway between Rice Street and Hawaii Route 570 (Ahukini Road) was constructed.  This realignment is captured on the 1983 United States Geological Survey map of Lihue.  


Hawaii Route 51 was extended north of Hawaii Route 570 to Hawaii Route 56 (Kuhio Highway) following the completion of Kapule Highway during August 1988.  The extension of Kapule Highway bypassed Lihue which served to give Kapaa a direct link with Lihue Airport.



Part 2; a drive on Hawaii Route 51

Southbound Hawaii Route 51 begins at Hawaii Route 56 (Kuhio Highway) near Hanamaulu.  Nawiliwili is signed as being 3 miles away.  



Southbound Hawaii Route 51 follows Kapule Highway over Hamamaulu Stream and intersects Hawaii Route 570 at the entrance of Lihue Airport.  








Southbound Hawaii Route 51 follows Kapule Highway and turns left on Rice Street.  





Southbound Hawaii Route 51 follows Rice Street towards Nawiliwili Stream.  The old 1920-era Rice Street Bridge can be found serving as part of the Paena Loop.  The bridge currently carrying Hawaii Route 51 over Nawiliwili Stream was constructed in 1933.  











An Ahukini Terminal & Railway bridge also can be found at Nawiliwili Stream.  This narrow-gauge railroad line operated from 1920-1959 from Nawiliwili Bay north to Anahola.




Southbound Hawaii Route 51 follows Rice Street and Waapa Road to a terminus at Hawaii Route 58 near Nawiliwili Bay.







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