The bridge at Hulahula Place and Kamehameha Highway in Hauula is slowly eroding and parts of the highway are falling into the ocean.

The bridge has gotten worse since July 2017.

“The structure has eroded immensely, the top of the sea wall is now gone and the bottom structure is moving and there’s a large hole straight through the bridge,” said Hauula resident Derrick Pressley.

Pressley says he’s reached out to state officials for help.

“Since there’s been no repairs, the cement slab underneath the asphalt is now giving way. Now we have stress cracks across the whole structure,” he said.

He says it’s an accident waiting to happen as the highway is always busy.

“An oil tanker passes here once a week and they pretty much drive on the white line, as well as the fire trucks, and emergency crews,” Pressley said.

State representative Sean Quinlan has also reached out to state transportation officials.

“They had an inspector on site in August of this year, they agreed ‘yes it is a problem,’ we’ve since reported it twice more and nothing has been done as of now,” Rep. Quinlan (D) Haleiwa, Kahuku, Hauula, Kaaawa said.

“It kind of makes me wonder, are they going to wait until one of us is driving over it and falls into the ocean before they fix it?” he said.

One resident said there was a beach at this location back in 2009.

This type of situation not just happening here, but its happening statewide.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation says they’re waiting on an environmental statement that’s expected to be released this spring.

“Right now looking at the projected sea level rise, about 15% of our state highways would be threatened,” said Shelly Kunishige, spokeswoman for HDOT.

“We’re estimating it would cost about $15 billion to move those highways inland or raise them depending on the area they are in,” she said.

She says the study in the spring will prioritize how the DOT will look at short and long-term fixes statewide.

“I understand the point of view from HDOT that funding is somewhat limited, but we have to realize that situations like Hauula, like Kaaawa are the new normal going forward,” said Rep. Quinlan.

“It’s not just on DOT, it’s on us the legislator, it’s on the governor, it’s on the various state departments to budget and plan accordingly for what we all know is going to happen— the sea level is rising, the winter storms are getting fiercer, it’s raining harder, and we need to confront that reality with a solid plan and sufficient funding to carry it through,” he said.

Pressley says he wants to see a temporary repair before the spring study.

The DOT says maintenance crews will continue inspecting the area.

HDOT also wrote the following statement:

HDOT continues to work with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) to address shoreline locations along Kamehameha Highway in the Koolauloa area through the project OS65 Kamehameha Highway (Route 83) Shoreline Mitigation, Vicinity of Kaaawa, Hauula, Punaluu and Kualoa. The ACOE is currently in the design phase of this project and has procured an environmental consultant to begin Section 106 consultation. During the environmental process HDOT and the ACOE will consider alternatives from revetments to beach replenishment. The design of the shoreline mitigations will be chosen on impacts, community input, and cost. In the meantime, our maintenance crews continue to inspect the shoreline in this area and will make emergency repairs (such as the shoreline repair in the vicinity of Kaaawa Valley Road and Kanenelu Beach on Nov. 30) if necessary.