Maunalua-Makapuʻu Scenic Byway

Townscape assisted a grassroots non-profit organization, Livable Hawaiʻi Kai Hui, with the development of the Maunalua-Makapuʻu State Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan. The Maunalua-Makapuʻu State Scenic Byway is a 6.8-mile stretch of Kalanianaʻole Highway that wraps around the eastern tip of Oʻahu between the communities of Maunalua (Hawai‘i Kai) and Waimānalo. The purpose of the Scenic Byway Management Plan is to preserve and protect the resources along the coastline from the entrance of Hawaiʻi Kai to Makai Pier, while enhancing the experience for both local residents and visitors. The State Scenic Byways Program was developed by the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation to recognize, preserve, and enhance locally-significant corridors featuring archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and/or scenic qualities. It is also a program for roads that “tell a story” and that are special or unique to Hawaiʻi.

Townscape worked closely with members of the scenic byway working group through a unique “community-based” planning process where members of the scenic byway working group helped to draft project descriptions for inclusion in the plan. Townscape guided the working group members through the planning process to identify issues and concerns for the byway, and to strategize and prioritize projects and programs to improve conditions along the byway and provide for better resource management. The working group consisted of residents, community organizations, businesses, landowners and elected officials. Townscape also coordinated an extensive outreach process to share the draft plan’s availability and to solicit public input. Outreach included a media release, briefings to neighborhood boards, an article in the Star-Advertiser newspaper, a program recording on ʻŌlelo (Maunalua: Past, Present, Future), an informational booth at a community event, and personal communications with community members.