Hawaii Route 200
Route 200, known locally as Saddle Road, traverses the width of the Island of Hawaii, from downtown Hilo to its junction with Hawaii Route 190 near Waimea, [Hawaii County, Hawaii|Waimea]. The road was once considered one of the most dangerous paved roads in the state, with many one-lane bridges and areas of marginally maintained pavement. Most of the road has now been repaved, and major parts have new re-alignments to modern standards. The highway is mostly one-lane in each direction, but there are two lanes on the uphill portions. The highway reaches a maximum elevation of and is subject to fog and low visibility. Many rental car companies used to prohibit use of their cars on Saddle Road, but now allow use of the road. The highway experiences heavy use as it provides the shortest driving route from Hilo to Kailua-Kona and access to the slopes of Mauna Loa and the Mauna Kea Observatories.
Route description
Waiānuenue Avenue
The mile marker 0 is posted in Hilo on the traffic signal at the intersection of Waiānuenue Avenue, Kamehameha Avenue and Bayfront Highway at coordinates. The route continues inland along Waiānuenue Avenue to a little over a half-mile past the mile 1 where it veers left onto Kaūmana Drive near Gilbert Carvalho Park. Further along, Waiānuenue Avenue is Rainbow Falls Park.- Total miles = 1.7
Kaūmana Drive
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Saddle Road
Reconstruction of the sections from mileposts 11 to 19 and 19 to 28 was finished in November 2011 and October 2008, respectively.
Image:SaddleLele.JPG|thumb|left|A Hawaiian kuahu near the junction of Saddle Road and Mauna Kea Access Road, Mauna Kea in the background
The terrain becomes the high lava desert of the Humuula Saddle. Two roads intersect Saddle Road close to Puu Huluhulu at its crest near mile 28 at above the sea level, the Mauna Loa Observatory Road to the south, and the Mauna Kea Summit Road to the north.
The Mauna Loa Observatory Road is an unmarked long narrow rough road which winds its way towards Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, Mauna Loa Atmospheric Observatory, and AMiBA on the slopes of Mauna Loa. It was connected in 1963 to the old Tom Vance road from 1950.
Image:HIRoute200New.JPG|thumb|left|New section of Saddle Road, around mile post 30, Mauna Kea in the background
The Mauna Kea Summit Road provides access to the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy and the last are paved. Puu Wēkiu is the highest point in Hawaii at and is home to Poliahu, Goddess of Snow. Mauna Kea Observatory on the summit, an ideal location for astronomical seeing, is under the jurisdiction of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy.
[Image:Hawaii Route 200 - Inoue Highway.jpg|thumb|Hawaii Route 200 - "Daniel K. Inouye Highway" Sign]
[Image:BradshawField.JPG|thumb|Entrance to Bradshaw Field]
West and northwest of these turnoffs, the segment of Route 200 from milepost 28 to 35 was dedicated and opened to traffic on May 29, 2007, with Senator Daniel K. Inouye as the keynote speaker and other local dignitaries. The new section was constructed to full federal highway standards, with wide shoulders, rumble strips, good signage and emergency phones at regular intervals.
From milepost 35 to 44 the road passes the main gates of Pōhakuloa Training Area and Bradshaw Army Airfield before continuing across the military reservation. Military vehicles – including armored personnel carriers – occasionally cross or occupy the roadway. Artillery exercises, including live fire, are not uncommon. with batteries set up along the roadway firing towards Mauna Loa. This section of the road was repaved in the summer of 2008, greatly improving the conditions.
On August 18, 2009, the completely rebuilt section, from milepost 35 to 42, opened to public travel. The realignment relocated the highway north to the Mauna Kea side of the Army base and Bradshaw Army Airfield.
A new section starting near mile marker 42 that bypasses Waikii and connects to Māmalahoa Highway near mile marker 14, opened September 7, 2013. At this time, the highway was officially renamed the Daniel K. Inouye Highway in honor of the late senator from Hawaii.
This new section avoids the old route, where from milepost 44, near Kilohana, to the Māmalahoa Highway the road retained its original character, a narrow ribbon of poorly maintained pavement with crumbling edges. On the old section, there are several one-lane bridges, blind curves and hills. It is common for drivers to negotiate the center of the road to avoid the rough shoulders, moving back into the lane only when necessary to pass traffic proceeding in the opposite direction. The route is quite scenic with views of the coastline, the Hualālai and Kohala volcanoes, winding its way across Parker Ranch and through the development of Waikii.
The original western terminus of Route 200 comes at its junction with Māmalahoa Highway toward Kona of Waimea.
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History
Although destroyed at lower elevations due to residential development, it can still be seen on maps as the "Judd Trail".
While planning for the defense of the Hawaiian Islands in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U. S. Army hastily built an access road in 1943 across the Humuula plateau of Parker Ranch at. Since it was not intended as a civilian road, the simple gravel path was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the US Army Corps of Engineers in case of an invasion. Military vehicles of all types and treads traversed the Island for the next three years.
Following the end of World War II in 1945, the Army turned over jurisdiction of the road to the Territory of Hawaii and it was designated "State Route 20". However, the territorial government had few funds to maintain the road, let alone upgrade it to civilian standards. Much of the paving dates from 1949.
About the same time, Tom Vance, who had earlier supervised building a highway up Mauna Loa named for Governor Ingram Stainback, secretly used his prison laborers to start a more direct Hilo-Kona road. He started at a camp which was exactly midway between Hilo and Kealakekua. The road extended in a straight line, heading for the pass between Hualālai and Mauna Loa.
In 1950, the camp caught fire after construction reached. The public refused to allocate more funding when they discovered about US$1 million had already been spent, so the project was also abandoned.
After the islands became the State of Hawaii in 1959, Saddle Road was handed to the County of Hawaii and for many years only minimal maintenance was performed, leading to generally poor conditions and the source of the road's notorious reputation.
Since 1992, there has been increased attention on the road, with efforts to rebuild and renovate the highway into a practical cross-island route. This resulted in repaving some sections and complete rebuilding of others. The entire road is now well paved, and in the uphill sections there is a separate lane for trucks and slower cars.