Schatz: Hawai‘i To Receive $22 Million To Improve Honoapiilani Highway On Maui, Protect It From Sea Level Rise
Schatz Worked With HDOT To Secure Federal Grant For Honoapiilani Highway
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) will receive $22 million in new federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to support a realignment of the Honoapiilani Highway in West Maui and protect it from sea level rise.
“This new federal funding will keep Honoapiilani Highway safe and functional by responding to coastal erosion caused by climate change and help local families get where they need to go in West Maui,” said Senator Schatz, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing. “In addition to this funding, Hawai‘i is set to receive at least $2.8 billion from the new bipartisan infrastructure law to strengthen road and bridges and make them more resilient to climate change.”
Schatz’s office worked closely with HDOT throughout the grant application process to ensure the state submitted a strong, competitive application. The DOT funding, which comes from a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant, will be used to realign 4.5 miles of Honoapiilani Highway from Ukumehame to Launiupoko. This realignment will connect to the previously constructed Lahaina Bypass, addressing the second priority location on the statewide report for coastal highway protection. HDOT will work closely with Maui County and the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, which owns most of the land that the realignment will be constructed on.
The project will also receive federal funding from the new bipartisan infrastructure law.
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