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As an island state, Hawai‘i relies heavily on its commercial harbors and imported cargo to meet the demands of Hawai‘i’s residents, businesses and visitors. Hawai‘i commercial harbors are shared-use facilities through which passengers and 98.6 percent of Hawai‘i’s imported goods are handled, including consumer goods, vehicles, fuel and constructional materials. To ensure the continued and unimpeded movement of cargo in and out of the state, as well as between our islands, the commercial harbors must undergo expansion and improvements to assure their efficiency and capability are maintained.
Hawai‘i Island has two (2) commercial harbors: Hilo and Kawaihae. Hilo is the older of the two and handes both cargo and passengers. Kawaihae, on the island’s northwest side, was conceived in part to alleviate some of Hilo Harbor’s congestion. It is also the harbor used to ship Hawai‘i Island cattle to market. The Hawai‘i Island has experienced a population growth of 31.5 percent increase in the last 15 years.
The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation, Harbors Division operates in consideration of the users of its facilities and with the acknowledgement that its developments have direct and immediate effects on these users. With this in mind, the Harbors Division hosts periodic users group meetings to understand current operations, to gather input of harbor issues and the update forecast models. The Hawai‘i Island Commercial Harbors 2035 Master Plan update will be prepared in this consultative manner.