Hawaii Route 5600 is a 3.4-mile highway located near the town of Kapaa. This corridor is considered by the Hawaii Department of Transportation to be a Temporary Bypass of Kapaa and forms a loop of Hawaii Route 56. Hawaii Route 5600 is overlaid atop a former Lihue Sugar Plantation haul road which was rebuilt to State Highway standards in segments circa 1996 and 2007. Initially the Kapaa Bypass was only open during daylight hours but is now functional at all hours of the day. The segment of Hawaii Route 5600 between northern Kapaa to Kauai County Route 581 carries only one-way southbound traffic.
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Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 5600
Hawaii Route 5600 is aligned on Ala Kianoika Way and alternatively is known as the "Temporary Kapaa Bypass." Kapaa is the largest community on Kauai and had a 2020 census population of 11,652.
Kapaa was established in 1877 when 13,400 acres of land were leased to the Makee Sugar Planation. The venture was initially unsuccessful since the operators had little to no experience with processing sugar. Operations turned around and Kapaa began to boom into a modern plotted town site. Ultimately the Makee Sugar Plantation was sold to the much larger Lihue Sugar Plantation in 1916.
Kapaa would become a stop on Kuhio Highway (now Hawaii Route 56) on the Ahukini Terminal Railway. The highway was largely constructed to modern standards during the 1910s. The narrow gauge Ahukini Terminal Railway began operations between Ahukini Landing and Anahola in 1920.
Both Kuhio Highway and the Ahukini Terminal Railway can be seen passing through downtown Kapaa on this northbound facing photo dated July 6, 1924.
The Lihue Sugar Planation bypass road (shown as Private and marked by blue pin) which would later become Hawaii Route 5600 can be seen west of Hawaii Route 56 and Kapaa on the 1963 United States Geological Survey map of Kapaa. Records for the Kainanhola Stream Bridge indicate this roadway was completed during 1937.
As Kapaa has grown Hawaii Route 56 has become increasingly congested. The former Lihue Sugar Planation Road (the company shuttered in 2000) south from Kauai County Route 581 (Kukui Road) was paved and repurposed as a temporary bypass numbered Hawaii Route 5600 by August 1996. In 2005 an Acrow bridge company prefabricated span was installed on the former sugar haul road at Moikeha Stream. The Hawaii Department of Transportation completed surfacing of the northern Kapaa Bypass north of Kauai County Route 581 during January 2007.
The segment of Hawaii Route 5600 from northern Kapaa southward to Kauai County Route 581 has always carried one-way southbound traffic. The remainder of the bypass routing is carried back to Hawaii Route 56 in a two-way traffic configuration. Initially Hawaii Route 5600 was only open during daylight hours but has since been fully opened to all hours of the day. Currently the Hawaii Department of Transportation only has long term planning goals for a true permanent bypass of Kapaa.
Hawaii Route 5600 appears on the Hawaii Department of Transportation maintenance logs for Kauai.
Part 2; a drive on Hawaii Route 5600
Southbound Hawaii Route 5600 begins in northern Kapaa near Hauaala Road. There are no Hawaii Route 5600 reassurance shields approaching the Kapaa Bypass, but placards notify traffic it can be used as an alternate to reach the Wailua River.
The one-way portion of Hawaii Route 5600 is a single lane width which carries traffic to a roundabout at Kauai County Route 581.
Hawaii Route 5600 south of Kauai County Route 581 widens to two-lanes and consolidates with Hawaii Route 56 south of downtown Kapaa near Papaloa Road.
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