Kauai County Route 552 is a 7.6-mile rural highway located in the mountains on the western side of the island. This County Route corridors begins at Hawaii Route 550 at Waimea Canyon Drive/Kokee Road junction and follows lower Kokee Road 7.3 miles to Alae Road in Kekaha. The remaining 0.3 miles of Kauai County Route 552 are carried by Alae Road to Hawaii Route 50 (Kaumualii Highway).
Kokee Road was part of the Kauai Belt Road between Kekaha and the Kalalua Lookout. The Kokee Road corridor has historically been long planned to continue northeast from Kalalua Lookout to the Waihina River. The entirety of Kokee Road was assigned as Hawaii Route 55 when the Hawaii Route System was extended to Kauai in 1955.
As the Kokee Road extension plans gradually fell apart it led to Hawaii Route 55 being renumbered as Hawaii Route 550. Hawaii Route 550 remained aligned on Kokee Road north of the Kitano Reservoir but was shifted onto Waimea Canyon Drive south of it. The bypassed portion of lower Kokee Road is now what comprises Kauai County Route 552.
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Part 1; the history of Kauai County Route 552
Much of the history of Kauai County Route 552 and Hawaii Route 550 are intertwined with that of Kooke Road. As presently configured Kauai County Route 552 is 7.6 miles in length. The County Route corridor begins at Hawaii Route 50 in Kehaka and follows Alae Road north 0.3 miles to Kokee Road. The County Route corridor continues along Kokee Road another 7.3 miles north to Hawaii Route 550 at Waimea Canyon Drive near the Kitano Reservoir. Kokee Road itself continues as Hawaii Route 550 to near Mile Marker 14 at the entrance of Kokee State Park and another 5.1 miles to the Kalalau Lookout.
Prior to the construction of Kokee Road a trail existed north of Waimea to Kaunuohua Ridge. This trail terminated at the Kalalau lookout a short distance of Puu O Kila. Much of the lower parts of this trail followed the grade which would later become Waimea Canyon Drive.
The Kaunuohua Ridge trail can be seen in detail on the 1903 Hawaii Territory survey map.
Modern highway development of lower Kokee Road began near the start of the 20th century. In 1900 a concrete slab bridge was constructed over Waipao Stream north of Kekaha. This span is now part of Kauai County Route 552 and reportedly the oldest active highway bridge on Kauai.
The history of Kuhio Highway is extensively documented in a United States Department of the Interior application to the National Register of Historical Places dated September 5, 2000. The application is heavily focused on the history of the portion of Kuhio Highway comprised by Hawaii Route 560 but also details much of the overall history of the Kauai Belt Road. The Kauai Belt Road includes Kokee Road.
In 1911 the territorial legislature established a loan fund which provided revenue to construct belt roads on the Hawaiian Islands. A Loan Fund Commission was established for each inhabited island. The commission on Kauai was early to act and moved to construct numerous bridges over the island over the next five years to complete the Kauai Belt Road.
In 1915 completion of the Kauai Belt Road entered its final phase when Kauai County Supervisor proposed a $100,000 bond to construct the highway (Kokee Road) from Mana (near Barking Sands Beach) northeast to Haena. The purpose of this bond was to accelerate roadway construction so that the Belt Road could be completed by 1917. It was estimated that the roadway wouldn't be finished until 1923 using Loan Fund Commission money. Ultimately the bond measure would fail to pass and the road between Mana-Haena was only constructed to the Kalalau Lookout.
In 1918 camp lots began to be established at what is now Kokee State Park along the Kokee Road. The cooler weather at above the rim of Waimea Canyon proved to be popular and became a significant tourism draw on Kauai. Kokee Road and the Kokee Camps can be seen as major waypoints on the 1931 Hawaii Tourist Bureau map of Kauai.
During World War II the United States Army would construct a temporary log road from the Kalalau Lookout to the Wainiha River. The purpose of this road was to route a telephone line through Alakai Swamp from the Hanalei Coast to the Army Airfield near Mana. The temporary log road seems to have kept interest in completing the Kauai Belt Road alive.
In 1954 Kauai County began construction of an extension of Kokee Road from the Kalalau Lookout towards the Alakai Swamp (sourced from a 1967-era Sierra Club document). Construction made it to where the Puu O Kila Lookout is now located but became bogged down in the Alakai Swamp. Reportedly construction equipment kept getting stuck in the swamp lands and immediate additional funding was denied.
In 1955 the Hawaii Route System was expanded to Kauai. Hawaii Route 55 was assigned to the entire corridor of Kokee Road from Kehaka to the Kalalau Lookout. A second segment was established on Waihina Powerhouse Road which terminated at Hawaii Route 56 (Kuhio Highway) near Haena. Early Hawaii Route 55 can be seen on the 1959 Gousha Highway map of Hawaii. Hawaii would become the 50th State on August 21, 1959.
The conceptual extension of Kooke Road and Hawaii Route 55 from Kaunuohua Ridge to Wainiha Powerhouse Road appears on a 1962 Hawaii Department of Transportation planning map. This map suggests a far straighter alignment than the Alakai Swamp and rugged 3,000-foot descent along the cliffs of the Na Pali Coast would have permitted. Kokee Road is shown to have been assigned as Federal Aid Second Route 550.
Interest in completing Kokee Road to Wainiha Powerhouse Road waned during the early 1970s and the planned extension disappeared from Hawaii Department of Transportation maps. Waihina Powerhouse Road was relinquished to Kauai County along with lower Kokee Road. Hawaii Route 55 would be renumbered as Hawaii Route 550 to denote it as a secondary highway and was rerouted along Waimea Canyon Drive.
Hawaii Route 550 appears on Waimea Canyon Drive and upper Kokee Road on 1983 United States Geological Survey maps of Kauai. It isn't fully clear when lower Kokee Road was assigned as Kauai County Route 552.
Part 2; a drive on Kauai County Route 552
Southbound Kauai County Route 552 begins as Hawaii Route 550 reaches the Kooke Road/Waimea Canyon Drive junction near the Kitano Reservoir (2,123 feet above sea level). Hawaii Route 550 branches south towards Waimea along Waimea Canyon Drive whereas Kauai County Route 552 follows the lower parts of Kooke Road.
Kauai County Route 552 begins to descend via a nearly 6% sustained grade. The highway has several pullouts which look directly at the island of Nihau.
Kauai County Route 552 winds through a gentle series of switchbacks and crosses the 1900-era Waipao Stream Bridge.
Kauai County Route 552 continues south to the terminus of Kokee Road at Kekaha Road in Kekaha. The County Route designation transitions onto Alea Road.
Kauai County Route 552 follows Alae Road to a terminus at Hawaii Route 50 (Kaumualii Highway).
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