Hawaii Highways - Big Island route list

' Hawaii Highways - Big Island route list

Click here for zoomable Google road map of the Big Island
(consult route list below for updated and detailed route information)

The Big Island route list is in three tables:

Table 1 (below) covers the current "Hawaii Belt" routes (routes 11, 19, and 190)

Table 2 (next page) covers other routes (including old routes, some of which used to be part of the Hawaii Belt), numbered below 200

Table 3 (last page) covers all other routes (current and old numbered routes 200 and above, and unnumbered highways)

. State route; County route; Former route; Other unnumbered route
(Actual county route shields are usually identical to state shields; see the FAQs for how routes are classified in the listings below.
Also, in many browsers letting your mouse linger over a route number graphic will help you decipher it.)

Former route (no longer in numbered state or county system)

Routes are generally listed in numerical order, with some exceptions to group portions of the same road with different names and/or numbers. For lists ordered differently (alphabetical by name, or by former route number):

Name cross-index · Former route cross-index

The Road

Map of the Hawaii Belt

Three state routes, , , and , form a circle around the Big Island, often called the "Hawaii Belt" (indeed, some specific portions of those routes are named "Hawaii Belt Road"). This map shows the Hawaii Belt, and the listings below indicate the specific road segments that comprise the Hawaii Belt.

The Hawaii Belt divides between Waimea and Kailua-Kona. The original, inland route, consisting of parts of the Mamalahoa Highway and Palani Road, used to be part of but is now . was rerouted along the coast (via part of Kawaihae Road) upon the 1975 completion of the Queen Kaahumanu Highway north of Kailua-Kona.

Much of the Hawaii Belt, northwest of Hilo, was built on the roadbed and bridges of an old rail line, as part of the recovery from a tsunami that ravaged the Big Island's northeast coast in 1946.

At least parts of the southern half of the Hawaii Belt were known long ago (well before statehood) as the "Kau Belt Road."

The Mamalahoa Highway

The Hawaii Belt includes or parallels the historic Mamalahoa Highway, which consists of part or all of present-day , , , and , as well as a small part of , and other scattered, unnumbered (or previously numbered) segments of the old highway parallel to the Hawaii Belt between Waimea and Hilo and also south of Kailua-Kona.

The Mamalahoa Highway is thought to be named for the "Law of the Splintered Paddle" whereby Kamehameha the Great guaranteed all his subjects safe and free access to the highways of his kingdom. The law was reportedly so named for a battle incident where Kamehameha was whacked in the head with a canoe paddle by a commoner defending his village, which supposedly inspired in Kamehameha greater respect for the common man (but that probably did not save the man with the splintered paddle from instant death at the hands of Kamehameha's lieutenants).

On this table, the route listings are shown in clockwise order, starting with mile 0 in Hilo, and ending with mile 0 in Hilo. All roads along the northern half of the Hawaii Belt, from Kailua-Kona back to Hilo, are thus listed in reverse order from how they are milemarked, so that the northern half listings can pick up where the southern half listings end.

Unlike most Hawaii Highways route list tables, this table is limited to roads currently in the state highway system; see Table 2 and Table 3 for former route 11 and 19 segments, and a never-numbered Kamehameha Highway segment, that used to be part of the Hawaii Belt.

Big Island (table 1)

Route

Name

Termini/misc road info

Mileage

BEGINNING OF

(part)

Kanoelehua
Avenue

Kamehameha Avenue and

Kalanianaole Street in Hilo, south to JN

Volcano Road at Makalika Street; northernmost part used to be (at least in the 1960s) county-owned and -maintained; plans in at least the early 1960s called for an extension of this segment about 0.2 miles north, along what is now Banyan Drive, to connect with the later-abandoned planned new alignment of

3.7
miles

(part)

Volcano
Road

Kanoelehua Avenue at Makalika Street in south Hilo, southwest to JN

Mamalahoa Highway at entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park near Volcano; shown as Mamalahoa Highway on some older maps; southern 13.8 miles of this segment, between the national park and Mountain View, was designated in 1956 as route 144 (to be signed "temporary 11"), with route 11 planned to be relocated to a straighter new alignment (including a northern bypass of Volcano village), but by 1963 the rerouting plan was dropped and route 144's mileage was returned to route 11

24.7
miles

(part)

Mamalahoa
Highway
(part)

(Hawaii
Belt Road)

Volcano Road at entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, southwest to Naalehu, then turning northwest along the Big Island's west coast, to JN

Kuakini Highway and

Mamalahoa Highway in Honalo; known primarily as Mamalahoa Highway, but sometimes called Hawaii Belt Road, or (less often) Kona Belt Road; part of road through Naalehu and several miles to the west are still county-owned and -maintained (pending possible future bypass); another part south of Kailua-Kona, between Kealakekua and Honaunau, used to be county highway but is now state-owned and -maintained; highway closed in three places, between Papa and Hookena Junction, by June 1950 lava flows (road not reopened until 1951, and damage not completely repaired until 1953)

85.5
miles

Photos

(part)

Kuakini
Highway
(part)

Mamalahoa Highway in Honalo, north to JN

Queen Kaahumanu Highway

Kuakini Highway south of downtown Kailua-Kona; named for Queen Kaahumanu's brother, who was royal governor of Hawaii island under the Kamehameha dynasty in the early 19th century

5.6
miles

(part)

Queen
Kaahumanu
Highway
(part)

(Hawaii
Belt Road)

Kuakini Highway south of Kailua-Kona, north to JN

Queen Kaahumanu Highway and

Palani Road in Kailua-Kona; segment completed 1984; about 0.3 miles of this segment is concurrent with

Hualalai Road, currently Hawaii's only multiplex; named for Kamehameha the Great's favorite wife, who became one of the most influential women in Hawaiian history

2.8
miles

See Table 2 for

Kuakini Highway, which along with

Palani Road (then part of

) were the old Hawaii Belt routing through downtown Kailua-Kona before they were bypassed upon completion of the Queen Kaahumanu Highway.

All roads below are listed in descending milemarker order, toward route 19's mile 0 in Hilo and route 190's in Waimea, rather than the normal ascending order used with the roads above

DIVIDES BETWEEN KAILUA-KONA AND WAIMEA

COASTAL ROUTE (part)		INLAND ROUTE (part)
Queen Kaahumanu Highway (part) 32.8 miles	JN Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Palani Road in Kailua-Kona (see Table 2), north to JN Kawaihae Road; completed in March 1975, as part of rerouting of from what is now ; appears in 1961 Hawaii DOT planning document as proposed extension of route 11, but by 1967 had been renumbered as future ; Hawaii DOT plans to ultimately turn over to Hawaii County about two miles at northern end, in connection with rerouting of Kawaihae Road segment of	Palani Road (part) 3.4 miles	JN Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Palani Road in Kailua-Kona (see Table 2), northeast to JN Mamalahoa Highway; most or all of this segment, south of mile 35.3, is county-owned and maintained, even though included in state highway system; used to be part of route 19, before was shifted to its present coastal route
Kawaihae Road (part) 9.9 miles	JN Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Kawaihae Road, east to JN Lindsey Road in Waimea; east of JN Kohala Mountain Road, used to be part of route 250, and before then route 25; remainder used to be part of route 26	Mamalahoa Highway (part) (Hawaii Belt Road) 35.3 miles	JN Mamalahoa Highway and Palani Road northeast of Kailua-Kona, northeast to JN Mamalahoa Highway and Lindsey Road in Waimea; northernmost mile of , in Waimea, is county-owned and maintained; used to be part of route 19
Lindsey Road (part) 0.1 miles	JN Kawaihae Road Lindsey Road in Waimea, southeast to JN Mamalahoa Highway; used to be part of route 250, and before then route 25

(part)

Mamalahoa
Highway
(part)

Lindsey Road and

Mamalahoa Highway in Waimea, east to JN

Hawaii Belt Road at

Old Mamalahoa Highway (see Table 2)

Mud Lane

5.0
miles

Hawaii DOT is working on plans to reroute this Mamalahoa Highway segment, and the preceding Kawaihae Road and Lindsey Road segments, as well as part of the preceding Mamalohoa Highway segment. This would create a bypass around Waimea to the south and east, as well as provide an improved road for Hawaii Belt traffic west of Waimea to the coast.

Also, parts of these Mamalahoa Highway segments are currently county-owned and maintained. The county portion of runs through Waimea, from mile 52.4 to mile 58.1.

(part)

Hawaii
Belt
Road
(part)

Mamalahoa Highway and

Old Mamalahoa Highway east of Waimea (see Table 2)

Mud Lane, east then turning south along the Big Island's northeast coast to JN

Bayfront Highway at Wailuku Bridge in Hilo; completed between Honokaa and Hilo in April 1960, largely following old railroad alignment, to replace the often winding old Mamalahoa Highway route; segment completed west of Honokaa in September 1963

49.3
miles

(part)

Bayfront
Highway

Hawaii Belt Road at Wailuku Bridge in Hilo, east to JN

Pauahi Street; completed in 1951; road continues east into Bayfront County Park, where remnant of planned extension of the Bayfront Highway is now a parking lot

0.7
miles

County planning documents recommend truncating or closing Bayfront Highway, with route 19 realigned onto part or all of

Kamehameha Avenue (see Table 3), to expand the park on the Hilo Bay waterfront.

The Bayfront Highway was originally envisioned to be extended to Hilo Wharf, to complete the realignment of 's eastern end begun in 1951. State legislation in 1967 authorized further planning for such an extension of Bayfront Highway as a four-lane divided highway. However, the proposed extension was abandoned by 1978, with Hawaii DOT shifting its focus to improving the existing route.

(part)

Pauahi
Street
(part)

Bayfront Highway, south to

Kamehameha Avenue

Pauahi Street in Hilo; under county jurisdiction, even though part of state highway system

< 0.1
miles

(part)

Kamehameha
Avenue
(part)

Pauahi Street

Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo, east to JN

Kalanianaole Street

Kamehameha Avenue and

Kanoelehua Avenue (see Tables 2 and 3 for other Kamehameha Avenue segments); easternmost part under county jurisdiction, even though part of state highway system; named for King Kamehameha I ("the Great"), first monarch reigning over all the Hawaiian islands

0.9
miles

END OF

(part)

Kalanianaole
Street
(part)

Kamehameha Avenue) and

Kanoelehua Avenue in Hilo, east to JN

Kuhio Street,

Kalanianaole Street, and

Silva Street; used to be part of route 12 and/or 120; used to be (at least in the 1960s) county-owned and -maintained; this and the following segment were named for Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole, who served in the U.S. Congress as territorial delegate in the early 20th century

0.7
miles

(part)

Kuhio
Street

Kalanianaole Street and

Silva Street (see Table 3) in Hilo, north to Hilo Bay wharf; apparently added to state highway system in late 1960s

0.1
miles

Continue to Table 2 (other numbered routes < 200, including former Hawaii Belt segments)

Go to Table 3 (numbered routes 200 and above, and unnumbered highways)

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© Oscar Voss/C.C. Slater 1997-2005, 2007. Last updated January 2007. See update status list for the latest field check and review of Hawaii DOT records.

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