(BIVN) – $74.6 million in federal funding is on the way to Hawaiʻi for for the rehabilitation of the Nānue and Hakalau bridges on the Hāmākua coast. 

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced the allocation on Wednesday, saying that he urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund the projects “which will help maintain traffic capacity and safety,” the senator’s office stated. “The funding, which comes from the infrastructure law that Congress passed in 2021, will also enable the completion of environmental remediation of lead paint under Hakalau Bridge that led to the closure of Hakalau Beach Park.”

Image of Nanue Bridge from file video recorded in 2015

According to the senator’s office:

Both Nānue and Hakalau bridges require significant rehabilitation in order to maintain operations along State Route 19 which is key for freight and a primary route of commercial vehicles traveling between Hilo and Kona. Without these upgrades, traffic on the bridges would have had to be rerouted for months out of the year in the coming years, if not closed entirely.

“This funding will help improve the safety of bridges that so many in East Hawai‘i rely on every day,” said Senator Schatz, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. “I’ll continue working to make sure Hawai‘i receives its fair share of federal dollars.”