The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) is seeking public input on its master list of street names and destinations for the state highways system. The list corrects misspellings and adds Hawaiian diacritical markings, including the ʻokina (glottal stop) and kahakō (macron).
HDOT Director Ed Sniffen explained the timing of this request: “February is Mahina ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, or Hawaiian language month, which inspired us to seek more public feedback to our state street name master list. Using kahakō and ʻokina in Hawaiian street names is a small but lasting way for the department to support the use and understanding of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.”
The streets included cover all major roadways and connecting streets across every island. Out of nearly 2,000 streets under HDOT’s jurisdiction, more than half required additional diacritical markings. These marks can significantly alter word meanings; for example, Moi Road on Kauaʻi could refer either to a fish or a ruler depending on spelling.
Director Sniffen highlighted their importance: “You can think of the ʻokina and kahakō as training wheels,” he said. “Fluent speakers may not need the clues that ʻokina and kahakō provide to understand how to read a word that could be pronounced multiple ways. But for the vast majority of us who are not expert ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi speakers, seeing words written with ʻokina and kahakō instructs us on proper pronunciation and meaning. E ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi kākou!”
Street names in Hawaii often commemorate local stories, events, people, or traditional land divisions. Local residents are encouraged to participate by researching their street names at wehewehe.org and submitting feedback through HDOT’s online portal at https://highways.hidot.hawaii.gov/stories/s/Olelo-Hawaii-State-Street-Names/7tn4-jrv6.
While HDOT’s main focus is on state highways—approximately 2,000 roads—it will forward any comments about county-managed streets to the relevant authorities. Updates to signage will occur alongside other repair work.
During its review process, HDOT identified eight state streets that appear misspelled. For instance, Heaaula Street in Haʻikū may actually be Keaʻaʻula Street; Akalakuahini Road might be intended as ʻĀkalakuahiwi Road; Opelo Road could be ʻŌpelu Road; Noname Place should likely be Palai Place; Piliokahi Avenue may actually refer to Piliokahe; Haleakala Avenue could be Heleakalā; Ulune Street might be Uluna; Ilimalia Loop’s spelling also raises questions based on neighboring street names.
HDOT plans further outreach with property owners affected by these possible corrections.
To verify spellings, HDOT consulted several resources such as “Hawaiian Dictionary” by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Elbert, “Place Names of Hawaii,” John Clark’s works on place names, OHA’s Kipuka Database, Ulukau.Org databases, Ka Leo O Ka Uluau Podcast series for place names on Hawaiʻi Island, among others.
Anyone who knows of a misspelled street name or has insight into correct diacritical markings is invited to submit input via https://highways.hidot.hawaii.gov/stories/s/Olelo-Hawaii-State-Street-Names/7tn4-jrv6.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation manages facilities including airports serving domestic and international carriers, commercial harbors, and a statewide highway network spanning six major islands (official website). As part of Hawaii’s executive branch (official website), it operates 11 commercial service airports along with four general aviation airports and nine commercial harbors (official website). The department aims to maintain safe and efficient transportation infrastructure while supporting economic growth across all islands (official website). It collaborates with federal agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration and local county departments (official website).