Hawaii County officials are ready to begin a nearly $18 million project to reconstruct a 3.64-mile section of Highway 137 that was claimed by lava from the 2018 Kilauea Volcano eruption in lower Puna.

Department of Public Works officials said Tuesday that a contract was awarded to Isemoto Contracting Co., which received the official notice to proceed on June 24. The section of Highway 137 is between the makai end of Pohoiki Road and the intersection of Highway 132, an area also known as Four Corners.

The price tag for the project to rehabilitate the county road is $17.8 million. The lion’s share, $13.35 million, will be funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, while the county will kick in $4.45 million.

“You know, the day has finally come,” said Puna Council member Ashley Kier­kiewicz. “We’ve been provided timelines that kept getting extended and extended, and it almost felt as if the project was never going to happen. I think the project has just become real for the community, because we’re finally going to get started.”

The work includes grading the existing lava rock, installing a new asphalt-concrete pavement structure, removing and replacing asphalt in areas unaffected by lava, and installing a new 6-inch waterline. The project includes 3.4 miles of new road and 0.24 miles of repaving the asphalt surface with asphalt-concrete aggregate.

Surveying of the area is already underway, according to DPW. On-site construction is set to begin at the end of this month, with an anticipated completion date of March 2026.

“It’s all a part of connectivity and getting Puna back to where it was prior to the 2018 lava flow,” said state Sen. Joy San Buenaventura of Puna. “It’s a huge milestone, especially since we’re talking about six years later. And kudos to the county for being able to finally get it done.”

The new road, when finished, will reconnect Kapoho Vacationland subdivision — which was all but wiped out by the eruption — with Highway 132, which runs from Four Corners to Pahoa.

A few homes and other buildings remain standing in the isolated subdivision, and Deb Smith, president of Vacationland Hawaii Community Association, called the pending road rehabilitation “huge.”

“We’ve been living out here full-time, hiking in and out from Four Corners,” Smith said. “We’re not getting any younger. I’m 69, and my husband’s 70, and we’ve been hiking in and out — about a mile-and-a-half to Four Corners.

“We can’t wait to actually drive home. Six years is a long time to wait for access. We’re really ready to begin our recovery. We’ve been in limbo for six years.”

Smith said once the drive home occurs, the real work for her and the community begins.

“Once 137 gets opened, we still have to do our subdivision roads. For us, getting 137 is just the first step,” she said. “We lost every inch of subdivision roads. So, we have 7 miles of subdivision roads to recover.”

DPW is hosting a Hawaiian blessing ceremony for the project at 10 a.m. on Sept. 24 at Four Corners, which will be open to the public.

“To have the blessing ceremony announced is a significant milestone for the community,” Kierkiewicz said. “It’s going to be a celebration. We felt strongly about ensuring that we’re incorporating culture, so there will be pule and a blessing.”

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has been identified as the suspect who was arrested after allegedly pointing an AK-47 assault rifle at former President Trump while he golfed, according to law enforcement sources.

Routh frequently touted his do-gooder credentials and championed left-wing causes on social media.

His LinkedIn shows that he attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, but relocated to Hawaii sometime around 2018.

Routh describes on LinkedIn as “mechanically minded” and enjoying “ideas and invention and creative projects with artistic flair.”

Follow the latest on the foiled assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Florida:

Routh was spotted by Secret Service agents near the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach with an AK-47, according to sources.

The agents opened fire on him, but he fled. Routh was later arrested on I-95 by local police.

Routh is the owner of Camp Box Honolulu, a shed building company with few positive reviews. While Routh hadn’t posted on his X account in a year, he frequently criticized politicians including Trump, current President Joe Biden, and celebrities like Bruno Mars.

Many of his replies are nonsensical, including one directed towards X’s owner Elon Musk, in which he seemed to entertain purchasing a rocket from the billionaire. “I would like to buy a rocket from you. I wish to load it with a warhead for Putin’s Black Sea mansion bunker to end him. Can you give me a price please. It can be old and used as not returning,” Routh wrote.

Routh was a supporter of Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley, according to one of his posts in which he encouraged the Republican presidential candidates to continue their races. “You cannot quit. Why. You must stay on the ballot to the end. You must fight. You must continue giving speeches and push all the way to election day no matter the election results. Do not give in. Join Nikki and keep working. Never give up,” he wrote.

Routh is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and Taiwan in their respective conflicts against Russia and China. He claims on X that he tried to “sell” the idea of having former Afghanistan troopers fight for Ukraine in Russia, but was denied multiple times before giving up after six months.

He also visited Kyiv and claimed that he would be willing to fight on the front lines, if he were permitted to.

This is a breaking story. Please check back for updates.