KAILUA — Kailua High School's principal is raising a red flag of concern about a new access road to the campus that has won wide support from the surrounding communities.

Principal Francine Honda said last week that she is mainly concerned about the expense to the school to maintain the road and the possible closure of the campus' entrance on Ulumanu Drive that runs through the Pohakupu subdivision.

"From the plans and information that we've received they're not looking at (the new road) as an access road but as an alternative road," Honda said. "It would mean closing our front gate and redirecting traffic to the other road, which would mean all of our Kailua community would have to go around."

Honda asked parents in an October newsletter to support the school and submit opinions to the state Department of Accounting and General Services.

Kailua High School, with just under 1,000 students, draws equally from the Kailua and Waimanalo communities.

Waimanalo students enter campus by way of the Castle Medical Center junction, Kailua Road and Ulumanu. High school students can also get on campus from Akiohala Street in Enchanted Lake, but all automobile access is through Ulumanu.

At one time traffic could cut through the Pohakupu subdivision to drop off students at the high school, but after young elementary students were struck by a vehicle more than 10 years ago, traffic was barred from entering Pohakupu in the morning.

Members of Pohakupu subdivision have been after the state for 30 years to open a new access road to the school, saying motorists are running over pets, hitting mailboxes, speeding and scaring elderly pedestrians.

Seven years ago Kailua and Waimanalo residents began a campaign to convince government to fund a new access road. At first neither the state nor the city was interested but residents persisted, answering all concerns and working out problems by involving everyone, said Mike Heh, who led the campaign for Pohakupu residents from the beginning. Heh said the letter took everyone by surprise because they believed Honda supported the project and all of the concerns were met.

Closing the present entrance was never an option, said Heh, who recently moved to the Mainland. "But the school has full control of all the gates," Heh said. "They'll determine what works best. To permanently close Ulumanu Drive, that's not in the picture. It never was."

The whole purpose of the road was to reduce the number of cars entering Ulumanu Drive and the hospital intersection, said Joe Ryan, who led the road campaign for the Waimanalo community.

"Closing the front access would be foolish," Ryan said.

As for maintaining the road: "Under the Harris administration, the city committed to maintain it," Ryan said.

Honda, who likes the idea of another road to relieve traffic during special events at the school, also has safety concerns over the ability of the school to monitor traffic on the new road and a possible need to hire more security. The planning process so far hasn't included public meetings and that too is a concern, Honda said.