The Department is close to awarding a design contract for a pedestrian overpass fronting the new Kūlanihāko‘i High School campus in Kīhei. The state Land Use Commission (LUC) in 2013 imposed a condition on the property requiring a grade-separated – meaning, above or below street level – crossing before the physical campus can open.

The LUC recently reaffirmed this condition and we are fully committed to meeting all of the necessary requirements to safely open the campus so that our South Maui students can benefit from state-of-the-art learning facilities in their own community.

The Department commissioned a study last summer to solicit community input and analyze options. The study found a strong preference for an overpass near Kūlanihāko‘i Street, which is estimated to cost between $10 million and $14 million and take three to five years to complete. We are exploring funding options to expedite work on the pedestrian crossing, with student safety as a top priority.

We are four weeks into the 2023 legislative session and things are moving at a quick pace. A total of 3,132 bills have been introduced by the House and Senate this session and of those, 787 bills have been flagged as having an impact on the Department — directly or indirectly. We have drafted testimony for more than 200 bills so far and will continue to work closely with our legislators to advocate for support to ensure student success.