Hawaii Route 200
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Route 200, known locally as Saddle Road, is a road that traverses the width of the Island of Hawai‘i, from downtown Hilo to its junction with State Route 190 near Waimea. The road is considered one of the most dangerous paved roads in the state, with many one-lane bridges and areas of marginally maintained pavement. It reaches a maximum height of 6,632 feet (2,021 metres) and is subject to fog and low visibility. Many rental car companies explicitly prohibit use of their cars on Saddle Road. Nevertheless, it provides the shortest route from Hilo to Kailua-Kona and the only access to the slopes of Mauna Loa and the observatories atop Mauna Kea.
- TOTAL MILES = 53.6 (86.3kM)
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[edit] History
While planning for the defense of the Hawaiian Islands in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army hastily built an access road in 1942 to service their Pohakūloa Training Area and Bradshaw Army Airfield in the Humu‘ula Highlands of Parker Ranch. Since it was not intended as a civilian road, the construction method was simple: clear, grade, pave. Military vehicles of all types and treads traversed the Island for the next three years.
Following the end of World War II in 1945, the Army turned over jurisdiction of the road to the Territory of Hawai‘i and was designated Route 20 but the territorial government had few funds to maintain the road, let alone upgrade it to civilian standards. The story was the same as the newly formed State of Hawai‘i took over jurisdiction in 1959. Saddle Road was subsequently handed to the County of Hawai‘i but little has ever been done to the road with the exception of patching some of the more notorious potholes.
[edit] Wai‘ānuenue Avenue
The MILE Ø marker is posted on the traffic signal at the intersection of Wai‘ānenue Avenue, Kamehameha Avenue and Bayfront Highway. The route continues mauka along Wai‘ānuenue Avenue to a little over a half-mile past the MILE 1 where it veers left onto Kaūmana Drive near Gilbert Carvalho Park. Further along Wai‘ānuenue Avenue is Rainbow Falls Park.
- TOTAL MILES = 1.7 (2.7kM)
[edit] Kaūmana Drive
Starting at the “Y” junction adjacent to Gilbert Carvalho Park, Highway 200 continues mauka on Kaūmana Drive and provides access to many neighbourhoods overlooking Hilo. The road is quite narrow and windy with many blind corners, hidden driveways and open drainage ditches. Just past MILE 6 is the junction with Pū‘āinakō Street Extension [2000], completed in September 2004 as a bypass of the above-mentioned windy sections. The intersection with Ua Nahele Street at MILE 8 marks the mauka terminus of Kaūmana Drive.
- TOTAL MILES = 6.2 (9.9kM)
[edit] Saddle Road
The official start of Saddle Road is at the “T” intersection of Ua Nahele Street at MILE 8. This is the last neighbourhood through which the route will pass. As it has from its beginning in Hilo, Route 200 continues to climb towards the Humu‘ula Saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The rainforest of the Hilo Forest Reserve and Upper Waiākea Forest Reserve surround the roadway and begin to thin as the elevation increases. Quality of the asphalt surface is quite good on this side of the crest but there are many curves and rises with limited visual distances.
The terrain becomes the high lava desert of the Humu‘ula Saddle. Two roads intersect Saddle Road close to Pu‘u Huluhulu at its crest near MILE 28 at 6,632 feet (2,021 metres) above sea level:
- Mauna Loa Observatory Road is an unmarked 17.1 mile (27.5kM) long narrow rough road connects to Hilo-Kona Road (Tom Vance, who spearheaded several civil engineering projects on-Island, spent $1 million in 1949 to build a straight road on the Hilo-Kona alignment but work stopped a year later when the work camp caught fire one night and burned everything) then winds its way towards a number of scientific observatories on the slopes of Mauna Loa.
- Mauna Kea Summit Road (a/k/a John A. Burns Way) provides access to Onizuka Center for International Astronomy (elevation 9,300ft / 2,835m) then climbs to the height of 13,780ft (4,200m) at grades averaging 17% making this the third highest public road in the United States; Pu‘u Wēkiu is the highest point in Hawai‘i at 13,796ft (4,208m) and is home to Poli‘ahu, Goddess of Snow. Many of the world's best observatories occupy the summit area and are under the jurisdiction of the University of Hawai‘i.
The entirely new six and a half mile segment from milepost 28 to 35 was dedicated and opened to traffic on May 29th, 2007 with Senator Daniel K. Inouye as the keynote speaker and other local dignitaries in attendance. The new segment is some of the best road on the island, quite a contrast to the roadway it replaced further out into the Pōhakuloa Training Area. The old section of roadway included some of the more dangerous features of the old Saddle Road. This included a sharp curve, blind corner and one way bridge near the entrance to Mauna Kea State Park that was acknowledged as one of the worst on the roadway. In contrast the new section was constructed to full federal highway standards, with wide shoulders, rumble strips, good signage and emergency phones at regular intervals.
From milepost 35 to Mamalahoa Highway the road resumes its original form that has lent Saddle Road its reputation. The road passes the main gates to Pōhakuloa Training Area and Bradshaw Army Airfield before continuing across the Humu‘ula Saddle. The road itself is a narrow ribbon of poorly-maintained pavement; there are several one-lane bridges; military vehicles — including tanks — occasionally cross or occupy the roadway; and oversized trucks delivering heavy equipment to the summit facilities or the ongoing road construction project. It is also common for drivers to negotiate the center of the road to avoid the rough shoulders.
At the far end of the saddle, near MILE 35, Saddle Road climbs a steep grade to the Waiki‘i Crest before descending the last ten miles (16.1kM) past the community of Waiki‘i Ranch. The terminus of Route 200 comes at its junction with Māmalahoa Highway [190] six miles (9.6kM) kona of Waimea.
- TOTAL MILES = 45.7 (73.6kM)
[edit] Future plans
Construction is underway on a seven-mile stretch along the base of Mauna Kea, between mileposts 35 and 42, which is scheduled for completion in 2009. This will relocate the roadway from its current location to the Mauna Kea side of both the Pōhakuloa base facilites and Bradshaw Airfield. Also currently under way is renovation of the existing section from mileposts 19 to 28.
Other realignment proposals include a section near Kaūmana Country Club Estates as well as one that would bypass Waiki‘i and connect to Māmalahoa Highway at either MILE 15 or at the mauka terminus of Waikōloa Road. Eventual plans are to complete a section past Mamalahoa Highway down to the coast and intersecting the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway[19] to support cross island commuting by tourists and resort employees. The route for the entirely new sections of the highway are in some question as changes are needed in light of recent expansion of the military exercise areas. Completion of these projects represent a major realignment of island traffic patterns and conversion of this notorious roadway into a modern state highway.
[edit] Communities served
- Hilo
- downtown
- ‘Āinakō
- Kaūmana
- Upper Kaūmana
- Wilder Acres
- Kaūmana Country Club Estates
- Mauna Loa Observatories
- Hale Pōhaku
- Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA)
- Bradshaw Army Airfield (BSF)
- Waiki‘i Ranch
[edit] Junctions
State Highways are marked as [××] whilst County funded roads are with (××). Former or unmarked routes are indicated by an asterisk.
| Mile | Town |  |
Street Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ø | Hilo |  |
Kamehameha Avenue / Bayfront Highway |
| 6 | Kaūmana Country Club Estates | [2000] | Pū‘āinakō Street Extension |
| 27 | * | Mauna Loa Observatory Road | |
| 28 | * | Mauna Kea Summit Road | |
| 41 | (201) | Saddle Road (proposed) | |
| 53 |  |
Māmalahoa Highway |
