Look Out! There’s A Hole In This Waikīkī Sidewalk
Months after a resident reported it, the city offered no repair timeline.
Pedestrians strolling down Waikīkī’s Kūhiō Avenue might notice a gash in the sidewalk where concrete around a storm drain has caved in, exposing rebar and creating a dark and hazardous hole in the ground.
The hole – just around the corner from Kapahulu Avenue, across the street from Denny’s and the Honolulu Zoo – opened up in early May, nearby resident Mike Butel told Civil Beat.
“It was that way for, I don’t know, a few weeks,” he said. “And then I thought maybe somebody would do something about it. There was no cone or anything like that to give anyone a heads up.”
Butel then reported the problem to the city’s online 311 system, which he said has worked well for him in the past. Almost four months later, however, the hole remained unfixed and unmarked.
The hole seems like a particular problem if people who aren’t expecting it walk through the area at night, Butel said.
“Kids are obviously walking there, a lot of tourists. If you weren’t aware and you stepped off that curb…” he said. Nothing good would happen.
A fix is not on the horizon yet, Department of Facility Maintenance spokesperson Chassity Santiago said in an email Wednesday.
“Scheduling will be coordinated based on resource availability, and we will provide an update once a timeframe has been established,” she said.
After Civil Beat reached out late last week, however, the city surrounded the hole with bright orange cones.
While the hole may seem like a small issue, broken sidewalks can cause real harm. Council members on Wednesday approved a $2.5 million settlement for the family of a man who, according to a complaint from April 2025, was walking his dog around Salt Lake early one morning in October 2024 when he tripped on a piece of raised sidewalk, causing him to fall on his face and break his neck.
The man was paralyzed from the neck down, which later led to pneumonia and other health complications, an amended complaint says. He died in August 2025.
Who Is Responsible?
Gene Albano, director of Honolulu Department of Facility Maintenance, 808-768-3343.
Residents can submit reports online through the free Honolulu 311 app.
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