News Release

Motorists advised to drive with caution on Highway 11 as post-eruption resurfacing begins

Date: June 1, 2020
Contact: Jessica Ferracane, 808-985-6018

Hawaii National Park, HAWAI‘I – Work to resurface Highway 11 between mile markers 28 and 32 near the park entrance began today, June 16, 2020. Motorists are advised to drive with caution and be prepared to stop. 

Flaggers will direct traffic through alternate lane closures, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, as Hawai‘i Department of Transportation contract workers repair and resurface the section of highway damaged by seismic and subsidence activity during the summit collapse of Kīlauea volcano in 2018. 

The work is projected to take about 100 days and is funded by federal disaster relief monies. 

Starting in May 2018, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park underwent a major change as magma drained from the chamber beneath the summit of Kīlauea volcano, and the caldera began to collapse, generating 60,000 earthquakes and massive clouds of rock and ash. The seismic activity damaged nearby roads and buildings, and most of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park closed for 134 days. The 2018 eruption and caldera collapse were the most destructive eruptive events in Hawai‘i in the last 200 years. 
 

www.nps.gov