Whatever Happened To...
An update on past news
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Queen’s offramp is in design phase
Question: What ever happened to the H-1 freeway onramp the Queen's Medical Center was going to build to ease traffic around Punchbowl Street?
Answer: The Queen's Medical Center agreed to build a Vineyard Boulevard onramp from Lusitana Street and an offramp from Kinau Street to Lusitana in exchange for city permission to build its new five-story parking structure and emergency room entrance along Miller Street.
The onramp would give motorists an alternative to entering the H-1 freeway, rather than going up Punchbowl Street and turning right onto Vineyard Boulevard or traveling east on Kinau to the Ward Avenue onramp.
The offramp would give motorists exiting the freeway at Kinau a more direct route to Queen's and the Physician's Office Building. They now have to go to Ward, turn right on Beretania Street and again onto Punchbowl.
A Queen's spokeswoman said Queen's is working closely with the city and the state to improve traffic flow on Punchbowl. She said both projects are in the design phase.
The center set aside $2.5 million for the projects and anticipated completing them last year. But last November, a Queen's consultant told the Downtown Neighborhood Board the Vineyard onramp needed to be redesigned so vehicles can safely merge. As it was originally designed, vehicles would have a near-impossible short distance uphill to get up to highway speed.
This update was written by Star-Bulletin reporter Nelson Daranciang.
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