2020 Road Maintenance Report

Aloha Estates Association

Drainage Committee

2020 Road Maintenance Report

The committee met on Friday, December 13, 2019, on Mauna Loa Drive with the following in attendance:

• Glenn Pierson, 1glennpierson@gmail.com

• Glen Barfield, glen@okika.com

• Eric Hubner, hubner.eric@gmail.com

• Monika Mann, mm.zebra@gmail.com

A second meeting was held January 18, 2020, at the Mt. View Senior Center with the following in attendance:

Glenn Pierson, Shelly Pierson, Glen Barfield, Gay Barfield, Eric Hubner, Leilani Kruger, Lise Madson and Janine McCusker

Basic Information all members agreed on:

Our Association is a road maintenance organization chartered for Aloha Estates. Unit 1 includes the paved Roads 1-6. Unit 2 continues from Road 7 with unpaved roads. Efforts over the years to have the unit 2 lot owners join the association have been unsuccessful.

The drainage system of the original subdivision was never a complete functioning system for all public and association road right of ways in the subdivision. Much of the drainage are natural stream beds that meander in and across both public, association, and private property.

Mauna Loa Drive is an unpaved road that the County periodically grades when the local homeowners finally get the County’s attention, usually following heavy rainstorms. To our knowledge the County has never officially indicated any intentions to pave the road.

The drainage ditch on the south side of Mauna Loa Drive starts substantially west, up past Road 11. Water from Mauna Loa mauka flows down both the road and ditch into our jurisdiction. In addition, there are multiple smaller streams that empty into the ditch. Thus, the ditch carries water from much further up the mountain and water from some of the properties south of the ditch.

The ditch’s location moves south and away from Mauna Loa Drive between Road 4 and Road 3, no longer adjoining the Mauna Loa Drive for a few hundred feet.

Approximately 25 feet west of Road 3 (uphill from the road) the ditch moves from the land south of Aloha Estates and comes back north into the Mauna Loa Drive right-of-way at an angle.

At this same general area above Road 3, a large pipe crosses perpendicular under Mauna Loa Drive to shift the drainage water to the north side of Mauna Loa Drive. This pipe west of Road 3 transfers the water into a low area just west of Road 3, which acts like a retaining pond with lots of vegetation.

East (downhill) from the pipe crossing Mauna Loa Drive, the deep ditch no longer exists on the south side of the road. The land area adjoining Mauna Loa Drive past the pipe is no longer a deep ditch, but much taller, and the beginnings of a new smaller ditch that grows deeper as it follows the road heading to Road 11. There is a pipe further down for a private driveway in this smaller ditch but no indication of flooding at this point. Further down toward Road 1, the south ditch grows in size and depth as it picks up more water in part from a stream from the south entering it.

On the north side of Mauna Loa Drive, where the pipe transfers the water to the retaining area, another well-known pipe crosses under Road 3, under the road perpendicular to Road 3. On the east side of Road 3 this second pipe drains the water into what appears to be a natural stream bed that begins to veer off to the north and gradually moves away from the Mauna Loa Drive roadway.

Concrete barriers were installed in 2017 over the stream bed on each side of Road 3 at Mauna Loa Drive as a safety precaution. The barriers on the east side washed into the stream bed during a major storm in 2018 and the road had some embankment washed away where the barriers once were. In addition, 30 feet of asphalt on the south end of Road 3 was lifted and part of the roadbed was washed out.

As of the week of January 12, 2020, the significant rains further washed out the north side embankment of Road 3. The center 4-foot barrier has almost no ground under it and is being held in place by the two adjoining barriers. In addition, the earth and road base on the top and sides of the drainage pipe has washed away under the first 9 feet of pavement. As of today the road asphalt material is acting as a bridge over 4 feet wide and under the west half of the roadway. It is just a matter of time before this portion of the road asphalt will collapse into the void and land on the pipe three feet below. Driving a vehicle of sufficient weight over it may immediately collapse it and risk putting the vehicle in the gulch created.

The road has been blocked off with portable barriers by the Association and Hawaii County multiple times, but people keep moving them out of the way.

The Association has notified the County authorities three times and will continue requesting assistance in more substantial barriers blocking off the road until the drainage pipe and road can be rebuilt to a functional system.

At Road 2, the stream bed crosses over the road at a low point in the road where there is no drainage pipe. During very heavy rains this portion of the road is under water of sufficient depth to be an issue for cars trying to drive through it. At Road 1 the stream bed has another pipe perpendicular to the road and under the pavement. The road has a dip at this point that some believe has gotten lower over the years as the pipe has started to collapse and become more oval and less round.

On the east side of Road 1, there is another natural stream bed quite deep that channels the water down to Highway 11. It has not flooded over its banks to date. Concrete barriers were installed on both sides of this section of Road 1. In heavy rains when the pipe is insufficient to carry the water from the stream, the water overflows the banks and hits the concrete barriers, which direct storm water around the barriers. As of today these barriers remain in place but the road base under them is being washed away as well as some of the road banks on the north and south side of the barriers. It appears it is just a matter of time before a major water event may wash some of these Road 1 barriers into the stream.

Water flow history based on member knowledge,

natural topography, and water flow dynamics:

1, Mauna Loa Drive ditch and Mauna Loa Drive are separated from each other by vegetation and higher ground limiting the ability of rainwater to flow off the road into the ditch. This has caused the continual washing away of the roadbed as the road serves as a ditch.

2. The pipe under Mauna Loa Drive just west of Road 3 tries to divert the large volume of rapid runoff ditch water into a 90-degree turn of the pipe. The pipe does not have the capacity for very heavy volumes of this water, therefore, the water’s momentum takes the water over the road crossing Mauna Loa Drive and part of Road 3. This was the force that drove the concrete barriers into the stream bed below.

3, The pipe crossing the three streets do not have the capacity to carry the large volume of rainwater in the peak rains experienced in the last few years and overflows the banks onto the pavement.

4, The water dynamics on Road 1 are similar. Large quantities of rapid water exceed the pipe capacity and the water overflows onto the road around the barriers. It appears it is just a matter of time before the next major water event may wash some of these barriers into the stream.

5. The maintenance of the opening of the pipes is critical to maintaining their capacity. Trash and debris blocking the openings will reduce the amount of water passing through and increase the flooding.

6. An important point and law of dynamics is that vegetation in a steam bed reduces the speed of the water runoff. If the vegetation is removed, the quantity of water is increased downstream. If the steam beds west of Road 1 are cleared or reduced, the flooding at Roads 3 and 1 will increase as more water tries to go through the limited pipe capacity.

Committee’s recommendations:

Lobby the County as a priority for the following county services.

Block off Road 3 at the pipe to insure no vehicles and people are hurt when the road collapses.

Grade Mauna Loa Drive regularly until the drainage issue is resolved.

This is not a universal recommendation of the committee. Some members think it is pointless to do anything until the drainage issue is fixed. Others believe the road gets too deteriorated for people who need to use the road and it could be years before the County solves the drainage problem.

Grade Mauna Loa Drive to increase the water drainage into the ditches.

Install new pipes of sufficient capacity across Mauna Loa Drive from above Road 3 at an angle to below Road 3.

Clean the pipe openings as a priority for routine maintenance. Currently the adjoining homeowners are doing this maintenance.

Remove the center barriers at Road 1 to allow water to pass over the center of the road with some spillway protection of the roadbed. Ask local residents with equipment to relocate barriers. Estimated Thank You gift $400.

Install reflective posts on the south end of Road 1 marking the roadway and limiting the access to the center of the road as it passes over the pipes. Provide warning signs on Roads 1, 2 and 3 to the situations on each road. Signs and reflective posts estimated cost under $1,000., installed by resident volunteers.

Earmark dues monies to replace the pipe at Road 1 with a larger pipe.

Not Recommended:

Do nothing.

We need to make Road 3 safer, particularly when covered in water, to meet our association responsibility.

Do not channel the streams and remove the concrete barriers in them now.

It is advantageous to slow the flow of water down until the capacity at Roads 3 and 1 is increased.

Create barriers capable of stopping a car from being driven into the ditches. Marking of the narrow roadway at the ditches notifying drivers of the road location and hazard even in high water meets the criteria used throughout the island on State, County and other private roads. The barriers create as many problems as they solve and are too expensive for our neighborhood to provide and maintain.