A $550,000 emergency access route providing Lahaina students and teachers an alternate way out of the area has been completed ahead of the reopening of the campuses next week, the governor said Friday.

Prior to the route’s construction, Lahainaluna Road served as the only way in and out of the three surviving Lahaina campuses — Lahainaluna High, Lahaina Intermediate and Princess Nahienaena Elementary. Parents and teachers have repeatedly criticized the lack of additional evacuation routes near the campuses, citing heavy traffic before and after school.

Concern is high as students prepare to return to schools in Lahaina that had been closed after the Aug. 8 fire that razed much of the historic town, including the King Kamehameha III Elementary school, and killed at least 98 people.

At a meeting of the state House of Representatives’ interim schools working group last month, Princess Nahienaena teacher Elizabeth Bowen asked the Department of Education to provide better communication about schools’ emergency evacuation plans.

She added that traffic on Lahainaluna Road will only worsen as King Kamehameha III Elementary students begin attending Princess Nahienaena’s campus next week until a temporary campus is built for them.

“If an evacuation order is issued, how are we going to evacuate over a thousand students and faculty out of that area?” Bowen said in the meeting. “I think that’s a huge consideration that needs to be in place before we open.”

The new emergency access route, constructed by the Hawaii Department of Transportation, runs 2.5 miles from the Lahainaluna fire lane to the Lahaina Bypass. The state also plans to add two more access points to the route.

Department of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi said Lahaina campuses are updating their school action plans to take into account the new access route.

“We greatly appreciate the support from the Department of Transportation, private landowners and Governor Green in prioritizing the safety of our Lahaina school communities as we prepare to reopen to students next week,” Hayashi said.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.