Saddle Road Update

The paving crew has made impressive progress in the last few days. The new pavement is now at Kilohana near MP43 and moving forward. They have started into the set of curves past the girl scout camp in the Kona Direction, and the machine was just short of Kilohana in the Hilo direction. I expect they will be much further by the end of the day. It will be nice to see this section done as it is one of the worst sections of pavement remaining on the road.

They have widened the road notably on these sections, maybe a foot on each side. Due to the width of the paving machine this leaves an odd strip down the middle, a little ditch, that has yet to get the new pavement. This goes for over a mile, rather an interesting feature. We were speculating you could put your tires into it and feel your way along the road in the heavy fog conditions this stretch of the road is know for.

There has been some reports of some vehicles driving at very high speeds on the road where the new pavement has been completed. These from guys who know the road extremely well and are not exactly slow drivers, what they consider fast must be downright dangerous. The new pavement is certianly a mixed blessing, nice for those of us that drive saddle regularly, but it is already attracting more cross island traffic. We worry about reckless or tired commuters who may increase the risk on this road. Despite new pavement Saddle is still a potentially dangerous road.

Paving machine laying asphalt near Kilohana on Saddle Road, 25 Aug 2008