Lunalilo on-ramp
closed mornings

Westbound commuters will have to
enter H-1 elsewhere through Nov. 7

By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin

Here's a message for morning commuters who take the Lunalilo Street on-ramp to head west on the H-1 freeway: detour ahead.

There will be no access to the freeway at that busy midtown ramp during morning rush hour starting Monday. The ban will continue between 5:30 and 10 a.m. on weekdays through Nov. 7.

Motorists who drive onto the ramp will be required to continue in the lane that leads to Vineyard Boulevard. From there, westbound access to the freeway is possible at Punchbowl Street, Aala Street or at the Palama end of Vineyard.

Motorists will still be able to leave the freeway using that Vineyard off-ramp.

The change is expected to reduce congestion and increase the speed of traffic on the freeway through town. It's all part of a Department of Transportation experiment to determine the effects on traffic flow with just that one factor removed.

"We are seriously looking at a number of conflicting on- and off-ramps and what can be done, things people have been complaining about for years," said department spokeswoman Marilyn Kali. The study will look at the oldest stretch of freeway through Honolulu, which has several spots where on- and off-ramps are very close and "there is a constant conflict of movement," she said. "There is a lot of conflict that slows traffic in that area."

The study, funded by the state Legislature, will continue for the next three years, with other ramp-closing experiments likely.

Key to the study is a computer model put together by the University of Hawaii department of civil engineering. The program used data collected from vehicle counts and video surveys in that area to project what will happen to the traffic pattern from 11th Avenue to Pali Highway, Kali said.

"We are testing the computer simulation to see if we can trust the assumptions," Kali said. "The computer model shows that when we do this, it will have a tremendous effect. It will increase the average vehicle speed and reduce the congestion by just making this one change. We need to test if the computer model is reliable."

"We're only doing it in the morning. What kind of effect it will have on people who use it is what we want to find out.

"We are not talking about closing it permanently."