Route 200, known locally as Saddle Road, traverses the width of the Island of Hawaiʻi, from downtownHilo to its junction with Hawaii Route 190 near Waimea. The road was once considered one of the most dangerous paved roads in the state, with many one-lane bridges and areas of marginally maintained pavement. Most of the road has now been repaved, and major parts have new re-alignments to modern standards. The highway is mostly one-lane in each direction, but there are two lanes on the uphill portions. The highway reaches a maximum elevation of 6,632 feet (2,021 m) and is subject to fog and low visibility. Many rental car companies used to prohibit use of their cars on Saddle Road, but now allow use of the road.[2][3] The highway experiences heavy use as it provides the shortest driving route from Hilo to Kailua-Kona and access to the slopes of Mauna Loa and the Mauna Kea Observatories.
Older pavement conditions, around mile post 34 in the Pōhakuloa Training Area, Mauna Loa in the background
Starting at the “Y” junction adjacent to Gilbert Carvalho Park, Highway 200 continues mauka (uphill) on Kaūmana Drive and provides access to neighborhoods overlooking Hilo. The road is quite narrow and windy with many blind corners, hidden driveways and open drainage ditches. Near mile 4 it passes Kaumana Cave, a lava tube. Just past mile 6 (coordinates 19°40′51″N155°9′23″W / 19.68083°N 155.15639°W / 19.68083; -155.15639 (Hawaii Route 2000)) is the junction with Pūʻainakō Street Extension, (Hawaii Route 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 miles (10.0 km)
Saddle Road
The official start of Saddle Road is at the “T” intersection of Ua Nahele Street at mile 8. This is the last neighborhood through which the route will pass. As it has from its beginning in Hilo, Route 200 continues to climb towards the Humuʻula 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. There are no tourist services or other infrastructure on the Saddle Road.[5]
Reconstruction of the sections from mileposts 11 to 19 and 19 to 28 was finished in November 2011 and October 2008, respectively.
A Hawaiian kuahu (altar) near the junction of Saddle Road and Mauna Kea Access Road, Mauna Kea in the background
The terrain becomes the high lava desert of the Humuʻula Saddle. Two roads intersect Saddle Road close to Puʻu Huluhulu at its crest near mile 28 at 6,632 feet (2,021 m) above sea level, the Mauna Loa Observatory Road to the south, and the Mauna Kea Summit Road to the north.
Hawaii Route 200 - "Daniel K. Inouye Highway" SignEntrance to Bradshaw Field
West and northwest of these turnoffs, the 6.5-mile (10.5 km) segment of Route 200 from milepost 28 to 35 was dedicated and opened to traffic on May 29, 2007, with Senator Daniel K. Inouye as the keynote speaker and other local dignitaries. 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 44 the road passes the main gates of Pōhakuloa Training Area and Bradshaw Army Airfield before continuing across the military reservation. Military vehicles – including armored personnel carriers – occasionally cross or occupy the roadway. Artillery exercises, including live fire, are not uncommon. with batteries set up along the roadway firing towards Mauna Loa. This section of the road was repaved in the summer of 2008, greatly improving the conditions.
On August 18, 2009, the completely rebuilt section, from milepost 35 to 42, opened to public travel. The realignment relocated the highway north to the Mauna Kea side of the Army base and Bradshaw Army Airfield.[7]
This new section avoids the old route, where from milepost 44, near Kilohana, to the Māmalahoa Highway the road retained its original character, a narrow ribbon of poorly maintained pavement with crumbling edges. On the old section, there are several one-lane bridges, blind curves and hills. It is common for drivers to negotiate the center of the road to avoid the rough shoulders, moving back into the lane only when necessary to pass traffic proceeding in the opposite direction. The route is quite scenic with views of the coastline, the Hualālai and Kohala volcanoes, winding its way across Parker Ranch and through the development of Waikiʻi.
Following the end of World War II in 1945, the Army turned over jurisdiction of the road to the Territory of Hawaiʻi and it was designated "State Route 20". However, the territorial government had few funds to maintain the road, let alone upgrade it to civilian standards. Much of the paving dates from 1949.
After the islands became the State of Hawaii in 1959, Saddle Road was handed to the County of Hawaiʻi and for many years only minimal maintenance was performed, leading to generally poor conditions and the source of the road's notorious reputation.
Since 1992, there has been increased attention on the road, with efforts to rebuild and renovate the highway into a practical cross-island route. This resulted in repaving some sections and complete rebuilding of others.[14] The entire road is now well paved, and in the uphill sections there is a separate lane for trucks and slower cars.[5]
Future
Eventual plans are to complete a section past Māmalahoa Highway down to the coast and intersecting the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway (state route 19) to support cross-island commuting by tourists and resort employees. The route for the entirely new sections of the highway was changed after the 2006 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.
Hawaii Route 2000 is a 6.2-mile (10.0 km) road on the island of Hawaii, in the state of Hawaii. The road's western terminus is at Hawaii Route 200 (known as the Saddle Road). The eastern terminus is at Hawaii Route 11 (known as the Hawaii Belt Road) in Hilo where the Prince Kūhiō Plaza shopping center is located.[15] Route 2000 is called Pūʻāinakō Street Extension, East Pūʻāinakō Street, and West Pūʻāinakō Street.[16][failed verification] The project was planned since 1995.[17]
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