Federal funding to enhance safety of bridge on Waiānuenue Avenue in Hilo

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz secures $13.4 million in federal funding to modernize the Waiānuenue Avenue Bridge to protect it from natural disasters.

The Waiānuenue Avenue Bridge is a concrete arch structure that crosses the Ainako Stream between Puʻu Hina Street and Rainbow Drive in Hilo.

Schatz announced that the State of Hawai‘i will receive $13.4 million in new federal funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to protect Waiānuenue Avenue Bridge from flooding and earthquakes.

The new funding follows an initial $1.5 million in federal grant money secured in 2021.

“This new federal funding will modernize the Waiānuenue Avenue Bridge, making it safer for local families to use and get where they need to go,” said Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The modernized bridge will be designed to withstand earthquake forces and erosive forces of flood waters as established by current national standards.

The $13 million grant is being funded through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which provides funding to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments so they can rebuild in a way that reduces, or mitigates, future disaster losses in their communities.