Accidents Back Up Highway 130 Traffic For Miles

A one-two punch of a pair of traffic accidents completely halted Hilo-bound traffic on Highway 130 for more than an hour this morning.

The blocking of the busy rush-hour traffic consisting of motorists trying to reach Hilo for work and school resulted in traffic backing up for at least five miles.

Police said the delay was caused primarily by an accident at the intersection of Highway 130 and the entrance to the Keaau transfer station.

Maj. Sam Thomas said that was the result of several rear-end collisions, and ultimately involved five vehicles. One person was injured.

That accident occurred at 6:28 a.m. and blocked both the makai, Keaau-bound lane as well as the shoulder lane. It wasn’t cleared until 7:40 a.m.

As police were dealing with that crash another accident occurred at 6:35 a.m. in the Pahoa-bound lane at the intersection of Highway 130 and Shower Drive.