Skip to main content

Ala Kinoiki Way to Poipu Beach (the Koloa Bypass)

By

Ala Kinoiki Way (the Koloa Bypass) is 2.9-mile rural bypass of the community of Koloa which permits direct access from Kauai County Route 520 to Poipu.  Construction of Koloa Bypass would begin in 1999 and opened to traffic in 2001 following a project delay due to surfacing issues.  Kauai County intends to extend the Koloa Bypass west to Kauai County Route 530 (Koloa Road) by 2035 as part of Federal Aid-Highway Route 522.    


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 the Koloa Bypass

The Koloa Bypass corridor was a project intended to grant the community of Poipu direct access to Kauai County Route 520 (Mahulia Road).  Originally traffic wishing to access Poipu had to pass through the congested community of Koloa and utilize Poipu Road.  

Construction of the Koloa Bypass began on May 17, 1999.  During October 2000 a naming contest for the bypass was held.  The Kauai County Mayor's Office would select "Ala Kinoiki Way" from the list of submitted contest entries.

The Koloa Bypass was functionally completed between Kauai County Route 520 and Poipu Road by early 2001.  A formal dedication ceremony for the bypass was planned for March 14, 2001.  Kauai County discovered upon final inspection that the initial project contractor (Rego Construction) had applied the roadway concrete too thinly. 

Okada Trucking Company out of Oahu was contracted to finish the Koloa Bypass.  The June 23, 2001, Garden Island announced the corridor was anticipated to be open to traffic the coming August. 

The County of Kauai intends to eventually extend the Koloa Bypass west of Kauai County Route 520 to Kauai County Route 530 (Koloa Road).  This extension appears as Federal-Aid Highway Route 522 on the 2035 Transportation Plan for the District of Kauai.  All Federal Aid-Highway Programs in Hawaii are assigned Route numbers consistent with the established State Highway numbering systems applicable to individual islands.  In the case of Kauai these numbers range from 50-59, 500-599 and 5000-5999. 





Part 2; a drive on the Koloa Bypass

The southbound Koloa Bypass begins a short distance from Koloa along Kauai County Route 520 (Maluhia Road).  Poipu is used as a control city, and the street blade indicates the bypass name of Ala Kinoiki (which lacks "Way").


The Koloa Bypass extends 2.9 miles southward and terminates at Poipu Road.  









Poipu has been inhabited well before European contact in Hawaii.  The Hapa Trail was an ancient Hawaiian roadway to the area which has been dated to around 1200 AD.  Modern Poipu is a resort community which had 1,299 residents on the 2020 census.  Nearby Poipu Beach Park is one of the best-known locations on Kauai to see Sea Turtles resting during evening hours. 




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

By
The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...
3 comments
Read more

Hawaii Route 50

By
Hawaii Route 50 is the longest Sign Route on the island of Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The entirety of Hawaii Route 50 is overlaid atop Kaumualii Highway from Lihue west to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. Hawaii Route 50 is one of the original 1955-era State Highway designations on Kauai.  Much of the Kaumualii Highway corridor was constructed during the sugar plantation boom of the late Hawaiian Kingdom.  The first tee beam bridge in Hawaii would be constructed along the Kaumualii Highway in 1911 at the Hanapepe.  Much of this highway would be modernized to two-lane standards through the 1930s and 1940s. 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 50 and Kaumualii Highway Hawaii Route 50 is the longest highway on Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The highway begins at Rice Str...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

By
A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida.  One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region.  For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate.  Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century.  Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area.  The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...
4 comments
Read more