(ABOVE VIDEO) Hawaiian Paradise Park resident Phil Wozniak talks about life along the seldom utilized Beach Road in Puna, and how it could soon change.
Video by David Corrigan
HAWAIIAN PARADISE PARK, Hawaii – Life along Government Beach Road has been quiet for Hawaiian Paradise Park resident Phil Wozniak. The road is a notorious 4-wheel drive passage connecting HPP with Hawaiian Beaches, the subdivision to the south. It is used mostly by fisherman.
But that could soon change, as a lava flow burning its way towards Puna’s populated areas threatens to cut the district’s only major road, Highway 130. In an effort to find alternate routes in and out of Puna, county officials have identified Railroad Avenue and Beach Road as the best choices. Improvements on the roads have already begun.
Wozniak understands the need for the emergency road construction. However, in a video interview filmed on Sunday, he expressed concerns over whether or not the road – even if vastly improved – will be capable of handling all of Puna’s traffic.
In a Volcanic Activity Notice issued by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Friday, scientists calculated the lava could reach Highway 130 in about 20 days, if the flow stays its course.
