Hawaii_Route_520
Hawaii Route 520
State highway in Hawaii, United States
Route 520 is the road which connects Kōloa and Poʻipū to Hawaii Route 50, the principal highway of the southern part of Kauaʻi island in the state of Hawaii. It is under the jurisdiction of Kauaʻi County, though it is numbered within the state numbering system.
Route 520 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by HDOT | ||||
| Length | 6.398 mi[1] (10.297 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| North end |  Route 50 near Knudsen Gap | |||
| South end | Koloa Landing | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Hawaii | |||
| Counties | Kauai | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Immediately south of where the road meets Route 50, the road (there known as Maluhia Road, meaning "peaceful") enters the Tunnel of Trees, a stand of Eucalyptus robusta, Swamp Mahogany. The stand, which lines either side of the road for more than a mile, providing shade and a characteristic smell. There are two versions of its planting. According to some, the trees were brought here and planted by the Knudsen family, at the time the largest landowner in the area to help stabilize the then soggy road over Knudsen Pass.[2] Another story is that they were planted by pineapple baron Walter Duncan McBryde, who planted them as a community project in 1911, using 500 leftover trees from his landscaping of his estate at Kukuiolono.[3][4] Before the construction of the Kaumualiʻi Highway (Route 50), the tree tunnel was three times longer than its current size.[3]
As Road 520 enters Kōloa, on the west side is the remains of the original Kōloa sugar mill, commemorated by a plaque and sculpture,[5] erected in 1985 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of commercial sugar production in Hawaii.[6] The road forms a T with Kōloa Road at the center of Kōloa, and then continues to the south a few blocks further west under the name "Poʻipū Road." Kōloa Road continues west as Hawaii Route 530 continuing on south to Poʻipū. Poʻipū Road then splits off to the east to most of the town of Poʻipū. Route 520 then continues as Lāwaʻi Road briefly, before it splits to the west leads to Spouting Horn and the National Tropical Botanical Gardens. The final stretch of the highway is marked as Hoʻonani Road, and terminates at Kōloa Landing.
The Maluhia Road section was formerly designated as Hawaii Route 52.[7]
The entire route is in Kauai County.
- Hawaii Department of Transportation (October 2016). "State DOT Road Inventory" (ESRI Shapefile). Retrieved July 31, 2019.
- Robert Nilsen. Moon Handbooks: Kaua'i (5th ed). Emeryville, CA: Avalon, 2003. Page 257.
- Pamela V. Brown. Paradise Family Guides: Kaua'i (9th ed.). Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press, 2006. Page 74.
- Jeff Campbell et al. Lonely Planet: Hawaii (8th ed.). Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet, 2007. Page 519.
- Ray Riegert. Hidden Hawaii (13th ed.). Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press, 2005. Page 434.
- Sean Pager. Off the Beaten Path: Hawaii (8th ed.). Guilford, CT: Insiders' Guides, 2007. Page 11.
