The Honolulu Police Department defended closing the H-1 freeway yesterday following the death of a 44-year-old woman who apparently jumped from Queen Emma Street overpass onto the Koko Head-bound lanes. Police defend closing
part of freewayStar-Bulletin staff
The closing prompted numerous complaints from motorists who were forced to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours.
Police received the first report of the incident at 5:16 a.m. They closed the freeway at the Queen Emma Street overpass from 5:25 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Police closed the Liliha Street onramp and routed three lanes of freeway traffic onto the Punchbowl Street offramp. That created a domino effect that stretched for miles.
State Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said it took him two hours to get to work from Mililani, a drive that normally takes 50 minutes to an hour.
The closing was necessary to allow traffic and homicide detectives investigating the death to gather evidence from the roadway, said Maj. Bryan Wauke, of HPD's Traffic Division.
"I think they did it relatively quick," Wauke said.
After the woman hit the roadway, she was struck by a car, Wauke said. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was not injured.
The closing caused all the major roadways into Honolulu from Leeward Oahu, the Pali Highway from Windward Oahu and all the surface streets in Honolulu to back up as traffic was diverted around the accident scene.
Honolulu Police Department