Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Our neighborhood has had to put up with sleepless nights for the past month because of night construction on Kamehameha Highway. Construction has been going on from McGrew Point in Aiea all the way down past the Hawaiian Electric plant in Waiau. Night work on highway
costs residents’ sleepFrom about 8:15 p.m. to 5:15 a.m., there's heavy-duty construction, with digging, talking, lights and tractors moving back and forth, going beep beep beep. I know traffic is bad. We in the Pearlridge/Aiea area have had to put up with it for years. But it is something we have learned to cope with. However, we cannot do without sleep. We have to go to bed before 8 p.m. just to get two-three hours of sleep. I've left messages on the state Department of Transportation hot line, called the mayor and our state representative and everybody else. Can you help?
By the time you called us, your calls had paid off -- at least temporarily.
Hawaiian Electric Co., which is doing all this work on Kamehameha Highway, halted the night work in your immediate area. As much as possible, work will be done during the day, said Heco spokesman Fred Kobashikawa.
However, the state Department of Transportation, which issued the permit for work on the highway, does not allow closing two lanes during the day, he said.
"Most of the work requires two-lane closures," which means more night work somewhere along the highway for several more months.
Asked what criteria is used to determine whether it's more disruptive to shut down two lanes or to allow work to go on all night near homes, DOT spokeswoman Marilyn Kali acknowledged, "It's a very difficult balance."
But in issuing the permit to Heco, the DOT's only requirement was that no more than one lane at a time be closed during the day. It's up to Heco "to work with the contractor to see what it can do to reduce the noise that's occurring," Kali said. She said she has weekly meetings to address noise complaints over the DOT's construction on the H-1.
Heco began its $18 million project to bury utility lines on the makai side of the highway from McGrew Point to the old Pearl City Tavern just before Thanksgiving last year.
Current construction will go on, town-bound lanes, 8:30 p.m.-4:30 a.m. weekdays, and Ewa-bound, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekdays. Some work also will go on, both directions, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Trenching work should be completed by Aug. 1, with the remaining work completed just before Thanksgiving, Kobashikawa said.
If you continue to have concerns, call the Heco hot line at 455-6650, Kobashikawa said. Additionally, a Heco representative attends the monthly Pearl City and Aiea Neighborhood Board meetings to review the project.
Kobashikawa said Heco held public informational meetings on the project a year ago and also went before the neighborhood boards. A traffic notice also was published in the daily newspapers, he said.
"It's a balancing thing" to try to schedule work, with daytime construction affecting not only traffic, but businesses as well, he said.
"We're sympathetic to the concerns of the public and are trying, with guidance of the Department of Transportation, to avoid project delays," Kobashikawa said.
"We know it's inconvenient and want to minimize the duration (as well as project cost) so we set up the work schedule as is."
To John Dolan, owner of a small apartment building on Kuamoo Street in Waikiki. He mows not only his lawn, but every lawn on the block, including a large hotel's lawn. In addition, he sweeps Kuamoo Street with just a small broom and dustpan. He's been doing this for years and has never been thanked. -- Bruce Wellsman Mahalo
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com
