June 9th, 2000
Around 2:30 p.m.

The Menehune Connector

June 9, 2000 - last day of traffic on the Menehune Connector, the temporary bypass road across Waimea Bay. The Menehune Connector, also known as the H2o was built across the sands of Waimea Beach on O'ahu's North Shore.

The 1,022-foot roadway was opened on March 18th after a rockslide on March 6 led to closure of the highway in the area, cutting off the connection between Haleiwa and Sunset Beach.

Yours truly visited the Menehune Connector on it's last day of operation and spun this VR as a reminder of what folks had to endure for several months just to take the kids to school, or to go get a bag of rice. The success of this goofy roadway also reminds us of how bad it was when Kamehameha Highway was closed and how much heartache, lost business and extra work and time folks had to put in to get around in their daily life.

I recommend reading the saga over at starbulletin.com - this article is a good one to begin with.