Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 9, 1 September 1999 — H-3 agreement finalized [ARTICLE]

H-3 agreement finalized

By Paula Durbln THE FEDERAL Highways Administration of the United States Department of Transportation has accepted, effective Aug. 10, the H-3 cooperative agreement signed earher by both the State Department of Transportation and the Ofhce of Hawaiian Affairs. This means OHA is set to receive $11 million in state and federal funds earmarked for the design and implementation of interpretative projects and programs in eonneehon with cultural resources located in Halawa Valley and at the Luluku Terraces in Kane'ohe. These include kalo terraces with stone work and surfaces still intact that constitute the largest Native Hawaiian agricultural complex on O'ahu. Kalo corms several hundred years old found at these sites have sprouted after proper planting and cultivation.

Plagued by controversy, construction of the H3 freeway had been contemplated since the 1960s. It was completed just two years ago due to delays from court challenges to the project as planned. A legal battle initiated by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs was resolved with a ruling that H-3 had to be built in eomplianee with the Naūonal Historic Preservation AeL Pursuant to a 150-page memorandum of agreement required under the NHPA and signed in 1987 by the State DOT, the State Historic Preservation Officer, the Naūonal Advisory Oouneil on Historic Preservation and the FHWA, the freeway was redesigned to avoid the Luluku Terraces. The MOA also identified other sites to be spared from destruction. The signatories to the MOA, all specified by law, invited OHA to participate in developing the MOA and sign as a concurring party. OHA accepted, and its former land officer, Linda Delaney, participated in crafting the agreemenL The State DOT decided OHA, given its interest and advocacy, should have the opportunity to design the interpretative projects and fH"ograms for the sites that were saved. "This represents the first real opportunity the Hawaiian eommunity has had to give voice and meaning to the very important sites affected by the H-3 but still intact," commented Delaney, currently an aide to State Representative Dennis Arakaki. ■