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Hawaii Route 570

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Hawaii Route 570 is a 1.1-mile corridor which follows Ahukini Road from the entrance of Lihue Airport to Hawaii Route 56 in Lihue. This corridor was originally designated as Hawaii Route 57 in 1955 and originally extended east of Lihue Airport to Ahukini Point. Hawaii Route 57 was truncated to the then new entrance of Lihue Airport in 1965. The corridor took the current number of 570 during the 1970s when it was designated a Secondary State Highway.


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 Hawaii Route 570

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.  


In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to Kauai.  Ahukini Road from Kuhio Highway east to Akukini Landing was designated as Hawaii Route 57.  Akukini Landing was the site of the terminus of the Ahukini Terminal Railway from 1920-1959.  

Hawaii Route 57 as it was originally configured appears on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Kauai.  On August 21, 1959, Hawaii became the 50th State.


By June 1965 the entrance of Lihue Airport was reconfigured.  Hawaii Route 57 was cut back as only existing on Ahukini Road east from Kuhio Highway (Hawaii Route 56) to the new airport entrance.  The reconfigured Hawaii Route 57 can be seen on the 1965 United States Geological Survey map of Lihue. 


In 1968 the State Highways and County Routes of Hawaii were split into separate systems.  Ahukini Road was retained by the state but was renumbered as "570" during the early 1970s which denoted it as a secondary State Highway.  

Functionally Hawaii Route 570 has remained unaltered into modern times.  The corridor appears under the Hawaii Department of Transportation directory for State Highways on Kauai.  




Part 2; a drive on Hawaii Route 570

Westbound Hawaii Route 570 begins where the Lihue Airport exit lane from Mokulele meets Ahukini Road.  Departing the airport Hawaii Route 570 intersects Hawaii Route 51 at Kapule Highway.  The westbound Hawaii Route 570 shield has a "business" placard underneath.  





Westbound Hawaii Route 570 continues on Ahukini Road to a terminus at Hawaii Route 56 (Kuhio Highway) in downtown Lihue.  Lihue historically was a small village which has been continuously occupied since pre-European contact.  The town was formally named in 1837 by Royal Governor Kaikio'ewa when he relocated the Kauai governing seat from Waimea.  The town has remained a commercial hub on Kauai and was selected as the Kauai County upon it being created in 1905. 






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