{"id":437732,"date":"2026-01-29T23:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/437732\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T23:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T23:16:10","slug":"lane-closure-begins-today-on-banyan-drive-in-hilo-for-tree-removal-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/437732\/","title":{"rendered":"Lane closure begins today on Banyan Drive in Hilo for tree removal : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>   January 29, 2026, 3:00 AM HST  <\/p>\n<p>A lane closure begins today on Banyan Drive in Hilo to allow for the removal of a banyan tree because of public safety concerns.<\/p>\n<p>A recent assessment \u2014 conducted by a certified arborist \u2014 of 48 banyan trees on the Waiakea Peninsula road identified the single tree for removal because of structural instability.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bigislandnow.com\/file\/bigislandnow\/2026\/01\/Banyan-tree-to-be-removed-on-Banyan-Drive-in-Hilo-1-29-26-BIN-feature-pic.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Banyan-tree-to-be-removed-on-Banyan-Drive-in-Hilo-1-29-26-BIN-feature-pic-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-422744\"\/><\/a>Photo Courtesy: Hawai\u2018i County<\/p>\n<p>Observed structural defects and recent canopy failure on the tree \u2014 which is not one of the named trees along the iconic route \u2014 creates a significant public safety hazard. The tree has lost about 20% of its crown and any additional failure could happen over the roadway.<\/p>\n<p>The southbound lane of Banyan Drive, between Banyan Way and Kamehameha Avenue, will be closed 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday as the tree is removed.<\/p>\n<p>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ADARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/p>\n<p>Work is tentatively scheduled to be completed by Feb. 12.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis emergency action is part of our efforts to protect public safety and ensure that this iconic part of Hilo gets the care and attention it deserves,\u201d said Hawai\u2018i County Mayor Kimo Alameda in the lane closure announcement.<\/p>\n<p>Removal work applies only to this single banyan tree.<\/p>\n<p>ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD<\/p>\n<p>The county also has a contract out to bid for maintenance of other Banyan Drive trees that will focus on removing invasive species, aerial roots and deadwood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 29, 2026, 3:00 AM HST A lane closure begins today on Banyan Drive in Hilo to allow&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[206748,206749,206750,206751,5375,5376,206752,192,5379,206753,206754,79,206755,206756,206757,206758],"class_list":["post-437732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-additional-failure-could-happen-over-roadway","tag-assessed-by-certified-arborist","tag-banyan-drive","tag-banyan-tree-to-be-removed","tag-big-island-news","tag-big-island-now","tag-closed-7-a-m-to-6-p-m-monday-through-friday","tag-environment","tag-hawaii-county","tag-lost-about-20-of-crown","tag-not-one-of-named-trees-along-iconic-route","tag-science","tag-significant-public-safety-hazard","tag-southbound-lane-between-banyan-way-and-kamehameha-avenue","tag-structural-defects-and-recent-canopy-failure","tag-tentatively-scheduled-to-be-completed-by-feb-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}