Interstate H-3 - History

History

Since its inception in the early 1960s, the H-3 Freeway has been mired in controversy. The original route was not set to be in the current Halawa valley, but rather, the nearest major valley due east, in the Moanalua ahupua'a. The powerful Damon family hurried to create the Moanalua Gardens Foundation in 1970 to join the forces of all political and cultural groups who opposed the freeway's construction through their tract of land. The Foundation's pinnacle no-build argument was the need to remove a significant historical stone containing ancient petroglyphs, Pohaku ka Luahine, which, until this day, stands intact along the Moanalua valley trail. Success came their way as this freeway route was dropped, but the H-3 would merely be rerouted.

Kanaka Maoli cultural practitioners continue to call for the highway's removal since it runs through an area of extreme cultural significance, according to their interpretation. The Bishop Museum, which did the historical and archaeological research, has published extensive reports that generally ascribe lower cultural significance to these sites relative to other sites in Hawaii. Many contend that the freeway is "cursed" due to its destruction of religious sites, and is therefore harmful even to those who traverse it. Ongoing environmental concerns include weed encroachment, light pollution, asbestos pollution, water and streamlife problems, and a host of other concerns; most notable among these are the ongoing decline of pueo, and other native birds, including several probable extinctions. For example, the O‘ahu ‘Alauahio (Paroreomyza maculata) was probably made extinct by H-3, as the species, whose last known home was Halawa, has had no sightings since H-3 construction.

Longtime residents of Ko'olaupoko and other North Shore communities continue to object to the freeway's developmental impacts on their community. Among their primary fears are urbanization on the scale of Honolulu via the freeway, which has the potential to bring heavy traffic and growth into their traditionally quiet neighborhoods, as well as affecting the value of their homes in the (until recently) relatively rural communities.

Conversely, this road is considered an engineering wonder by its admirers. It is often compared to various cinematic landscapes in Star Wars and other movies, and it does sometimes reduce travel time for cross-island commuters, which has allowed for increased real estate development and prices in Windward Oʻahu (east of the Koʻolau Mountains, although frequent traffic clogs and accidents have become a well-known feature of the road as well.

One anecdote relates to the elevated section passing through Haʻikū Valley. In this valley, the viaduct passed beneath the antenna of a United States Coast Guard radio transmission facility. It was thought that the energy field from the antenna could interfere with heart pacemakers—a potential detriment to drivers and passengers on the roadway. A giant metal cage was designed to surround the roadway through the valley. Before H-3 was opened, the Coast Guard closed their transmitting facility, obviating the need for the cage. Although the full cage was never built, buried within the roadway was the bottom of the cage. HDOT decided to remove this steel mesh (at considerable expense) prior to opening of the freeway to minimize inconvenience to the motoring public at some later time.