Waipio Valley Road Closure Prompts Community Organizing, Legal Action … The road closure, which took many by surprise, has provoked emotional divisions among diverse groups of people who use the valley.
A decision by the Big Island mayor to abruptly close road access to Waipio Valley for most people is causing major heartburn for various sectors of the public.
One lawsuit was filed in late March. Another case is in the works. And a petition demanding that Mayor Mitch Roth lift or amend his Feb. 25 emergency road closure has garnered more than 800 signatures.
Roth based the closure on what he said was an “imminent threat” to public safety from rockfall and unstable slopes, a characterization critics say is grossly overstated and flawed, but the county stands by it.
