Skip to main content

Hawaii Route 540

By

Hawaii Route 540 is a 3.9-mile alternate of Hawaii Route 50 which loops to/from said highway via Halewili Road. This highway was originally designated as Hawaii Route 54 in 1955. Hawaii Route 54 was aligned initially aligned through Numila via Sugar Mill Road and McBryde New Mill Road until the early 1960s. The corridor was renumbered as Hawaii Route 540 in the 1970s which denoted it to be a secondary 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 of Hawaii Route 540

Hawaii Route 540 is aligned over Hawawili Road and forms a loop of Hawaii Route 50 (Kaumualii Highway.  The loop begins near Kalaheo and ends near Eleele near the turnoff towards Hawaii Route 541.   Much of Hawaii Route 540 passes through land which was part of the McBryde Sugar Plantation.  The highway passes by the former company ghost town of Numila. 

The McBryde Sugar Company incorporated in 1899 as a consolidation of Eleele Plantation, the McBryde Estate, and Koloa Agricultural Company. The company town of Numila once housed over 1,000 Japanese migrant workers who worked at the sugar mill facility. The larger McBrydge Sugar Company plantation can be seen on the 1903 Hawaii Territory Survey map of Kauai.



Numila was served by the Kauai Railway out of nearby Port Allen between 1906-1947. The line can be seen illustrated below on a Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit map. The Kauai Railway passed directly through Numila and followed much of the grade now used by Hawaii Route 540 west of the company town.


In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to Kauai.  Hawaii Route 54 was assigned as a loop of Hawaii Route 50 which passed directly through Numila via McBryde New Mill Road and Sugar Mill Road.  The original configuration of Hawaii Route 54 between Eleele to Kahaheo via Numila (displayed as McBryde) can be seen as a major highway on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Hawaii.  Hawaii would become the 50th State on August 21, 1959.


The original alignment of Hawaii Route 54 through Numila was short lived.  The highway is shown to be realigned onto a bypass on the 1963 United States Geological Survey map of Hanapepe.


During the early 1970s Hawaii Route 54 was renumbered to Hawaii Route 540.  The purpose of this renumbering was to denote the corridor as a secondary highway.  The mill at Numila would shutter in 1972 which was followed by closure of the McBryde Sugar Company in 1996.

Hawaii Route 540 appears on the current Hawaii Department of Transportation inventory for Kauai.




Part 2; a drive on Hawaii Route 540

Westbound Hawaii Route 540 begins at Hawaii Route 50 a short distance from Kalaheo.





Westbound Hawaii Route 540 begins with a descent towards the Numila town site.  Traffic can enter the town at McBryde New Mill Road.






These views are from the original alignment of Hawaii Route 54 in Numila along McBryde New Mill Road.  Most of the worker homes in Numila still stand and appear to have staff from the Kauai Coffee Company Estate keeping them in a state of arrested decay.






The Kauai Coffee Company was created in 1987 as a subsidiary of the McBryde Sugar Company.  The Kauai Coffee Company Estate occupies 3,100 acres of land which is largely centered around Numila.  This is the largest coffee estate in the United States and exceeds the size of the Kona Coffee District on the Big Island. 











Westbound Hawaii Route 540 terminates at Hawaii Route 54 in Eleele. 







Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grand Loop Road of Yellowstone National Park

By
  Grand Loop Road is a 140 mile loop highway which traverses the interior of Yellowstone National Park.  Grand Loop Road connects all of the major attractions and geological features of Yellowstone National Park along with the entrance roads.  Grand Loop Road is a seasonal highway and despite some conjecture never has been part of the US Route System.   Part 1; the history of Grand Loop Road The majority of history pertaining to Grand Loop Road was taken from the below National Park Service article: Historic Roads - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Yellowstone was declared the first National Park of the United States on March 1st, 1872.  The first real highway to access Yellowstone National Park came in 1873 when a tolled facility was constructed from Bozeman, Montana via Yankee Jim Canyon to Mammoth Hot Springs.  Numerous attempts were made to fund construction of roadway infrastructure during the early years of Yellows...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway

By
From 2017 through to early 2019 I drove the majority of the California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway from CA 89 southwest to CA 99. CA 70 is an approximately 178.5 mile state highway which starts at US 395 near the Nevada State Line and travels west through the Feather River Canyon to CA 99.  CA 70 is often referred to as the Feather River Highway" given it's close association with the river.  Historically CA 70 was previously signed as US 40A and CA 24.  The Legislative Routes prior to the 1964 California Highway Renumbering that made up the current route of CA 70 are as follows: -  Legislative Route Number 21 from US 395 westward to Oroville. -  LRN 87 from Oroville south to Marysville. -  LRN 232 from Marysville to the current junction with CA 99.  CA 70 was even dual signed with CA 99 into Sacramento on what was LRN 232 for a time. The change from US 40A/LRN 21/LRN 87/LRN 232 can be seen by comparing the 1963 State Highway Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more