Skip to main content

Hawaii Route 3400 (the amalgamation of former Hawaii Route 34 and former Maui County Route 341)

By


Hawaii Route 3400 is a 2.6-mile State Highway located on the Island of Maui in the Wailuku and Kahului areas.  Hawaii Route 3400 is comprised of portions which were once part of Hawaii Route 34 on Kahului Beach Road and Maui County Route 341 on Waiehu Beach Road.  Modern Hawaii Route 3400 now bridges Hawaii Route 32 at Kaahumanu Avenue in Kahului north to Hawaii Route 340/Maui County 330 at Kahekili Highway near Wailuku. 


Part 1; the evolution of Hawaii Route 34 and Maui County Route 341 into Hawaii Route 3400

The Island of Maui seemingly was not part of the original World War II era Hawaii Route System.  Circa 1955 the United States Bureau of Public Roads renumbered the Hawaii Route System.  The 1955 Hawaii Route Renumbering saw most of the conventions utilized by the current Hawaii State Route System established.  Primary Hawaii Routes were given two-digit numbers whereas Secondary Hawaii Routes were given three-digit numbers.  The Hawaii Routes were assigned in sequence for what Island/County they were located on coupled with what Federal Aid Program number they were tied to.  In the case of the Island of Maui it was assigned numbers in the range of 30-40.  

Hawaii Route 34 was aligned from Hawaii Route 32 at Kaahumanu Avenue in Kahului west through Wailuku on a partially completed downtown bypass via lower Main Street and approximately half a mile of Waiale Road.  Hawaii Route 34 was connected to Hawaii Route 30 south of downtown Wailuku via non-state-maintained Koa Drive.  Maui County Route 341 was aligned north from Hawaii Route 34 at lower Main Street via what is now Waiehu Beach Road and Lower Waiehu Beach Road to Waiehu Beach Park.  The original configurations of Hawaii Route 34 and Maui County Route 341 can be seen on the 1955 United States Geological Survey map of Wailuku.  

According hawaiihighways.com a 1967 Hawaii Department of Transportation document recommended the removal of Hawaii Route 34 from the Federal-Aid Highway System and by proxy State Highway System.  This measure seems to have been taken due to Koa Drive never been taken on as a State maintained facility which meant Hawaii Route 34 never fully functioned as the bypass of downtown Wailuku it was intended to be.  

Despite being a mainline State Highway, it appears Hawaii Route 34 may have been always signed with "bypass" placards.  A 2001 era image of a Hawaii Route 34 shield along with a bypass placard can be seen on hawaiihighways.com here.  

1.5 miles of Maui County Route 341 (Waiehu Beach Road) from lower Main Street to Waiehu Stream and 4.3 miles of Kahekili Highway north of Waiehu Stream were to Camp Maluhia were recommended to be added to the State Highway System.  This led to construction of a new connecting branch of Waiehu Beach Road directly to Kahekili Highway.  This new construction led to the designation of Hawaii Route 340 which followed Kahului Beach Road (formerly lower Main Street) 1.1 miles, Waiehu Beach Road for 1.5 miles and replacing Hawaii Route 33 over Kahekili Highway for 4.3 miles.  Hawaii Route 340 can be seen on the 1983 United States Geological Survey Map of the Wailuku area.  



It is unclear when Hawaii Route 3400 replaced Hawaii Route 340 between Kaahumanu Avenue and Kahekili Highway.  Hawaii Route 3400 is shown to be interchange with Hawaii Route 340 on the 2017 United State Geological Survey map of the Wailuku area.  Hawaii Route 340 shields strangely are occasionally in place along modern Hawaii Route 3400.  


Part 2; a drive on Hawaii Route 3400

Hawaii Route 3400 begins via a right-hand turn from the terminus of Maui County Route 330 on Kahekili Highway onto Waiehu Beach Road.  



Hawaii Route 3400/Waiehu Beach Road eastbound intersects former Maui County Route 341 at Lower Waiehu Beach Road.  

Hawaii Route 3400/Waiehu Beach Road continue east to Kahului Beach Road and lower Main Street.  Hawaii Route 3400 makes a left hand turn onto Kahului Beach Road whereas Hawaii Route 34 would have once gone in both directions.  For unknown reasons the approach to Kahului Beach Road and lower Main Street is signed "junction Hawaii Route 340."


Hawaii Route 3400 continues east via Kahului Beach Road where it terminates at Hawaii Route 32/Kaahumanu Avenue (GSV image used).


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
4 comments
Read more

Massena Center Suspension Bridge

By
The Massena Center Bridge, also known as the Holton D. Robinson Bridge, has had quite the tumultuous history. Situated on the Grasse River just east of Massena, New York in the hamlet of Massena Center, the Massena Center Bridge is a reminder of the efforts the community has made in order to connect over the river. The first and only other known bridge to be built at Massena Center was built in 1832, but that bridge was never long for this world. During the spring of 1833, the Grasse River dammed itself due to an ice dam, flooded and lifted the bridge off its foundation, destroying the bridge in the process.  The floods were frequent in the river during the spring, often backing up the river from Hogansburg and past Massena Center, but not to nearby Massena. After the first bridge disappeared, local residents had to resort to traveling seven miles west to Massena to cross the next closest bridge, and that was no easy task for a horse and buggy. However, it was many decades befo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Dead Man's Curve of Interstate 90 and Innerbelt Freeway in Cleveland

By
"Dead Man's Curve" refers to the transition ramp Interstate 90 takes between Cleveland Memorial Shoreway onto the Innerbelt Freeway in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  Said curve includes a sharp transition between the two freeways which is known for a high rate of accidents.  Currently the curve (not officially named) has a 35 MPH advisory speed and numerous safety features intended to mitigate crashes.  When the Interstate System was first conceived during 1956, Interstate 90 was intended to use the entirety Cleveland Memorial Shoreway and connect to the Northwest Freeway through Lakewood.  The Innerbelt Freeway was initially planned as the northernmost segment of Interstate 71.  The extension of Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of Edgewater Park was never constructed which led to Interstate 90 being routed through the Innerbelt Freeway.   Part 1; the history of Cleveland's Innerbelt Freeway and Deadman's Curve The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was signe...
Post a Comment
Read more