(BIVN) – Starting next week, there will be a reduced speed limit on a stretch of Highway 11 (Mamalahoa Highway) in South Kona. 

The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation says the speed limit will be lowered to 35 mph on the highway between the Honaunau Elementary School Driveway and vicinity of Captain Cook Village Road. This is the area of the highway between mile posts 106.5 and 109. 

The speed limit is currently 45 mph. “Prior to mile post 106.5 the speed limit is 35 mph and after mile post 109.5 the speed limit is 30 mph,” the Hawaiʻi DOT says. “The change is speed limit will make it consistent with the speed limit through this corridor.” 

“The proposed speed limit change will provide a manageable, safe, consistent and enforceable speed,” the Hawaiʻi DOT wrote in a news release. 

“Along this segment of Mamalahoa Highway, there are homes, schools and business. There have been near misses and accidents along this segment of highway, resulting in at least one death in the past five years,” the DOT stated. 

The new speed limit will take effect following the installation of new signage on June 9, 2025.