Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Dillingham work set to
finish sometime in AprilQuestion: Why is it taking 1 1/2 years to complete work on Dillingham Boulevard? It is a mess. Even when they make repairs, they never bring it up to at least being smooth so we can use it correctly. It is really disruptive to all the businesses along here.
Answer: It'll take at least until next April before work to install a 42-inch water main, which started in May 2001, is completed.
The $16.9 million project has been delayed for several reasons, according to the Board of Water Supply. One was the bankruptcy of the original contractor, and another was construction of the Iwilei Costco, said BWS spokeswoman Denise DeCosta.
Okada Trucking Co., which currently is working on three sections of Dillingham Boulevard, will complete most of the work between Waiakamilo Road and North King Street before the end of the year. The exception is the a 150-foot bridge crossing near Kohou Street.
That portion will be delayed "due to unforeseen conflicts with Hawaiian Electric," DeCosta said. Hawaiian Electric was asked to relocate anchors for guy wires for utility poles that are in the way of the proposed pipe alignment.
DeCosta said BWS did not know when HECO would begin its work, so had no estimated completion date for the bridge work.
However, on Friday, HECO spokesman Fred Kobashikawa told "Kokua Line" the utility company expected to complete its work by the second week of December. Doing so involves digging a 30-foot-deep, 6-foot-wide hole next to Kapalama Drainage Canal, building a reinforcing bar cage and pouring in concrete. That will serve as a foundation for a steel pole that will replace the existing anchors, Kobashikawa said.
HECO's work is scheduled to begin next Monday.
Given that time frame, DeCosta said that if Okada Trucking begins work in January, work on the bridge portion of Dillingham would take another three months. That means the project won't be completed until April.
Meanwhile, DeCosta said that when Okada finishes its job, city crews will repave Dillingham.
Questions or complaints about the project can be directed to the 24-hour hot line at 479-7952.
Q: I'm calling about the water pumping station on Kapahulu Avenue. The front of it used to be a beautiful blanket of honeysuckle. Now it's just a bare, black, plastic-covered eyesore. I'm wondering what happened? A lot of tourists go by there.
A: Be assured that the "eyesore" is just temporary.
The plantings around the Board of Water Supply's Kaimuki Pumping Station were "severely cut back in recent months due to problems with vagrants sleeping among the bushes and leaving waste matter around the property," according to BWS spokeswoman Denise DeCosta.
The plan is to install fencing to minimize that problem. After that, new landscaping, including native pohinahina, will replace the honeysuckle vines, which died out some time ago, DeCosta said.
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Useful phone numbers
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com