What the dissatisfied public wanted was an upgrade to the ancient steep and winding trail that served as a passage through the Ko‘olau Mountains, between Nu‘uanu Valley on the Honolulu side and the windward side of O‘ahu.
Pali Trail - circa 1896
The Pali trail was widened to a road for horses and small vehicles in 1862. In 1896 the legislature authorized dynamiting and paving the road. Another widening after 1900 allowed for automobiles and trucks to traverse it. There were plans to build tunnels before World War II, but the war forced a postponement.
In anticipation of the tunnels in 1947, Clara Inter (aka Hilo Hattie) and Andy Cummings wrote a spritely hapa haole song titled “When They Build the Puka in the Pali.” Construction began in the mid-1950s. One side was opened in May of 1957, and the other side opened on August 1, 1961.
Puka in the Pali - 1956
The Nu‘uanu Pali tunnels are actually a pair of twin tunnels (two in each direction, one after the other). They measure 1080 and 497 feet (eastbound), and 1000 and 500 feet (westbound). And now there are six other pukas in the pali: The Wilson tunnels (twins) and the Tetsuo Harano tunnels (pair of twins).