State Portion of Chain of Craters Road Turned Over to County

Governor Neal Abercrombie has turned over the state’s portion of Chain of Craters Road to the County of Hawai`i.

In an executive order originally dated on Sept. 30, Abercrombie said that the 3.68-mile portion of road near Kapalana was “hereby turned over to the County of Hawai`i, in fee simple, for use as a county highway, and the County of Hawai`i shall hereafter be responsible for its repair and maintenance as a county highway.”

Back on Sept. 15, Abercrombie authorized the use of Chain of Craters Road as an alternate emergency route, should the June 27 Kilauea lava flow cross over Highway 130 and affect communities in Puna.

The original proclamation was issued on Sept. 5, Certain laws were suspended under emergency circumstances, including restrictions on reestablishing abandoned roads.

According to Councilman Greggor Ilagan, work had already started on the end of Chain of Craters Road that was operated by the state. Ilagan said that a D-9 bulldozer had started work on the first quarter-mile stretch of the road. Work had not started on the other end, located inside Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.