Traffic Shift at Kea‘au-Pāhoa Rd., Ainaloa Blvd. to Start July 20

Archive photo: Early evening commuter traffic approaching the end of the Keaau bypass on Route 130 backs up to Kea‘au High School and sometimes beyond. Photo by Hunter Bishop

The traffic shift at the intersection of Kea‘au-Pāhoa Road (Route 130) and Ainaloa Boulevard will begin July 20 as crews continue to install a compact roundabout and related improvements, according to Hawai‘i Department of Transportation.

The temporary Ainaloa Boulevard lanes will shift north toward Hilo, while Route 130 will remain in the same temporary two-lane position.

Portable message boards are currently positioned in both the inbound and outbound direction on Keaau-Pahoa Road to alert motorists of the new traffic pattern. The shift will be in place 24-hours a day, seven days a week to allow for paving and restriping work, street lighting installation, and other multimodal enhancements. All work is weather permitting.

Should the scheduled work be modified, notice will go out via HDOT’s social media accounts and notification system. Those interested in receiving notice of scheduled lane closures and other public notices from HDOT can sign up at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/hidot/subscriber/new.