Just below the Hawaii Loa Ridge gate, at ʻĀina Haina Shopping Center, every business change in the past two years has come with a date. A shave ice shop announced its last day, and an açaí shop announced its grand opening hour. Two chains closed in the same month. The public work along the same stretch of Kalanianaʻole Highway has moved on a different clock. One traffic signal project was expected to start more than a year ago and was still in permitting this August.
As of the first week of October 2026, here is what has changed at the foot of Puʻuikena Drive, what is still waiting, and the two dates this month that someone living on the ridge can put on a calendar.
Twenty Months at 820 W. Hind Drive
Most of the corner's turnover since early 2025 can be traced through the shopping center's storefronts:
- February 24, 2025. Uncle Clay's House of Pure Aloha served its last shave ice at ʻĀina Haina Shopping Center after nearly three decades in that location.
- March 2025. Farther east along Kalanianaʻole, Hangang opened at Niu Valley Shopping Center, next to Gyotaku, at 549 Halemaʻumaʻu St., Unit B4.
- May 2026. Pieology closed its ʻĀina Haina restaurant along with its Kailua, Pearlridge, Kāneʻohe and McCully locations. KHON had reported in March that the chain's last day was expected on or after May 22. Lēʻahi Health's ʻĀina Haina location also closed that month. Its Mānoa and Kaimukī locations are still open.
- June 13, 2026. Oakberry Hawaiʻi held its grand opening at 10 a.m. in the former Uncle Clay's space, Unit No. 116.
When it opened, the Oakberry store was the brand's third on Oʻahu and its second opening in less than a month, after a Waikīkī location at the Park Shore Waikīkī Hotel. Operations manager Zayne Chong explained the choice of site to Aloha State Daily: "We wanted to capture something in east Honolulu. This space opened up in ʻĀina Haina, and we thought it would be a good fit for Oakberry on the East side." The menu centers on açaí made without dyes, corn syrup or artificial preservatives. In June the original bowl was listed at $14.95. Hours at opening were 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Those hours come from opening-week coverage, so check the shop's Instagram, @oakberry.hawaii, before a weekday-evening run.
The Pieology and Lēʻahi Health spaces are a different story. We found no local news coverage, center announcement or neighborhood board record naming a replacement tenant for either one as of early October. A tenant may already be lined up. If so, it has not been made public yet.
The Signal Project That Was Due Last Fall
At the September 3, 2025 meeting of the Kuliʻouʻou-Kalani Iki Neighborhood Board, the Kalanianaʻole Highway traffic signal modernization plan was described as starting in "late August/early September 2025." Residents at that meeting raised concerns that contractors might use residential streets as staging areas.
By the board's August 5, 2026 meeting, nearly a year after that window, the project had no published start date. Board member Spangler asked for a firmer update on the Waiʻalae/Kalanianaʻole Highway signal work. Spangler noted that Department of Transportation activity had been seen in the area without any formal notice to the community. State Representative Mark Hashem said the project was still in DOT's permitting process and committed to following up. No HDOT representative attended that meeting. The board chair named Maaza Mekuria, Acting Director of HDOT's Project Coordination and Operational Support Branch, as the board's new HDOT contact.
The board records we reviewed do not list which intersections are included. Every trip off the ridge goes through a signal on Kalanianaʻole, so the open question for Hawaii Loa Ridge is the timing. Nobody has published when lane work will start or where crews will stage. The board's monthly meetings have been the earliest public place where updates appear.
Two More Projects With a Season but No Date
Representative Hashem's August report included two smaller items for the same stretch of highway. Construction on the mauka-side parking lot at ʻĀina Haina Elementary was set to begin in fall 2026. He also said $1.6 million in statewide library security funding is expected to bring back a security guard position at ʻĀina Haina Library.
Like the signal work, both are scheduled by season, not by day. "Fall 2026" started in late September. The school lot is the one most likely to affect traffic near the shopping center over the next few months. As of the last published update, neither project had a start date.
October's Two Fixed Dates
Two things this month do have exact dates, one already in effect and one coming up.
The green cart changed on October 1. The City's Green Recycling Organic Waste program, known as GROW, now takes food scraps in the green cart of eligible three-cart households. The pilot began April 1, 2026 in Waiʻanae, Nānākuli, Hawaiʻi Kai, Mililani, Kailua and Kalihi. The island-wide expansion started Thursday, October 1. The rules, as the Department of Environmental Services presented them to the neighborhood board:
- Accepted: meat, seafood, leftover food, loose coffee grounds and tea leaves without filters or bags, and solid or semisolid dairy such as cheese and yogurt.
- Not accepted: milk, ice cream, plastics, paper, glass, metal, liquids, pet waste, and compostable packaging. The City excludes compostable packaging because of concerns about PFAS contamination.
- Unchanged: the every-other-week pickup schedule.
- Suggested method: collect scraps in a resealable container, freeze them if you like, then add them loosely to the green cart in layers with yard waste so the yard waste absorbs liquid.
For context, the City says households generate about 60,000 tons of residential green waste a year. GROW supports the City's goal of keeping 90% of waste out of the landfill by 2030. The collected material is composted at Hawaiian Earth Recycling in Wahiawā, which also takes food scraps and green waste dropped off by residents for free, up to two loads a day. City transfer stations and convenience centers still accept green waste only.
The Great Pumpkin Festival is Saturday, October 17. Holy Nativity School holds its 14th annual festival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 5286 Kalanianaʻole Hwy., with pumpkins, games, live entertainment, food and local shopping. Tickets are sold through the festival page. At the board's September 2 meeting, the school said it was seeking a brief closure of Nenue Place between Nenue Street and the Starbucks parking lot, with the shopping center kept accessible. The City's meeting summary lists October 17 as a Friday. The school's own page says Saturday, and the school is running the event.
If you're driving down the ridge for groceries or coffee that Saturday morning, the shopping center should stay open, but the Nenue Place side will be busier than usual.
Sharing the Ridge Gate With Hikers
The busiest regular visitors to Hawaii Loa Ridge are hikers headed for the trail above the homes, and they come through the same light that residents use. The Hawaii Loa Ridge Owners Association publishes its rules on its hikers page:
- Hikers use the left lane at the Kalanianaʻole Highway light. The right lane is for pre-registered owners and tenants.
- Each hiker must show a valid Hawaiʻi driver's license, Hawaiʻi State ID or military ID.
- Hikers register at the Entry Security Post and sign a waiver.
- Each car is assigned a stall in the hiker's parking lot, just past the water tank near the top of Puʻuikena Drive. Once the lot is full, no more passes are issued until a stall opens up.
- Resident bathrooms and the parking area by the Main Pavilion at Paka Nahele are for owners and their escorted guests only.
The association also asks that no one stop or park in the jug handle at the bottom of Puʻuikena Drive, because it is an active roadway. Visitors who are headed to the beach or the ocean views are directed to the adjoining Kawaikui Park, which has a parking lot, restrooms, showers and picnic areas. In 2025 the City asked for public feedback on allowing leashed dogs at several nearby parks, including Kawaikui, Niu Valley, Nehu, ʻĀina Haina, Wailupe and Wailupe Iki. The feedback deadline was August 29, 2025. We have not found a record confirming whether the change was adopted.
Sources don't agree on the trail's name. The association says hikers turn right from the hiker's lot to reach the "State Wiliwilinui Trail." It also notes that other access points to that trail do not pass through the community. The state's trail listings show Hawaiʻiloa Ridge Trail and the Wiliwilinui Access Road and Trail as separate entries. They describe Hawaiʻiloa Ridge Trail as 3.5 miles one way with 1,700 feet of elevation change. Neither the association nor the state trail profile posts public hiking hours or dated notices about trail conditions. If you have guests who want to hike from the ridge, the gate is the place to check that day.
The signal project, the school parking lot and the empty storefronts are the open items for the months ahead, and the light at Puʻuikena Drive is where most of them will show up first. If you're thinking about what the next year looks like from your lanai and from a financial point of view, Francein Hansen can review it with you, from design updates to tax-aware timing, along with the trusted CPAs and advisors she works with. Schedule a Strategy Session.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
