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Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Friday, July 17, 1998

H-1 widening, detour
for H-3 will take a year

I hope you can help thousands of commuters who drive through the Halawa Interchange everyday, Ewa bound. The state Department of Transportation has temporarily diverted H-3 traffic to exit onto the Halawa Interchange where it formerly exited onto the H-1. It made a very bad situation almost intolerable. Traffic has been backing up very heavily. We can't understand the rationale for doing it. How long will this last and can this be stopped?

First, the answer you don't want to hear: The detour will last at least a year, and the Transportation Department said it won't be changed.

The closing of one lane and opening of the ramp now in use was done to accommodate construction of the new H-1 lane that will connect with the H-3, said spokeswoman Marilyn Kali.

Work started in January to widen the H-1. To accomplish that, the Aiea Heights bridge has to be widened, Kali said.

If the changes had not been made, "we would have had an unsafe merge at a later point," she said. "We did not feel that was in the best interest of highway safety."

The only other alternative "was to funnel H-1 down to one lane, which would have created much more severe backlogs than having H-3 merge at Moanalua at that point," she said. "We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we have no other options at this point."

There is a 15- to 20-foot-long area of sidewalk, fronting 1311-1341 Kapiolani Blvd., between the Hawaiian Life Building and the Uraku Tower, that's been torn up and blocked off by a contractor. It's been at least a month that area has been inaccessible to pedestrians and the wheelchair-bound, forcing some to go out onto the street. Why is this allowed to happen and when will the work be completed?

A work order had been sent to the new city Department of Facility Maintenance to repair the "uplifted sidewalk," said William Deering, housing code chief in the new city Department of Planning and Permitting's Building Division.

The work was delayed because a GTE Hawaiian Tel box needed to be lowered, he said. The box is scheduled to be lowered tomorrow by Sakuma Electric and the sidewalk replaced after that.

I am trying to reach the Philatelic Society. I can't find any number for it in Honolulu. Can you help?

The number for the Hawaiian Philatelic Society, for people who collect Hawaiian stamps, is 521-5721. The group meets 7:30 p.m., the second Monday of every month, at the Nuuanu YMCA.

There are 375 members worldwide, about half in Hawaii, said Treasurer Kay Hoke.

The group has been in existence since 1911, and most of the major collectors of Hawaiian stamps are members of the society.

There is also a Philatelic Center, which is now more a "window," at the downtown post office, offering commemorative stamps. Hours: 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Mahalo

To all those who stopped to offer help when my car died at the stoplight on Kailua Road, across from the old drive-in theater, on a busy Saturday morning on June 6. Without emergency flashers, I was at a loss. I am grateful to all the kind souls who asked if I needed a push or a cellular phone. Extra mahalo to three refuse workers who stopped traffic long enough to push me out of the intersection. -- Diane Fedor

Swimming pool

To the reader complaining about a Kaneohe pool. Please call back and clearly repeat the address.

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Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
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