Emergency sewer work will affect Ala Wai and Ala Moana Park
Street parking on a five-block stretch of Ala Wai Boulevard will be closed to motorists for six months to make room for emergency sewage pumps, the city announced yesterday.
The city will put up signs today warning that cars parked between Lewers and Walina streets will be towed starting Wednesday morning. Also starting Wednesday, the Diamond Head entrance to Ala Moana Beach Park will have a detour and possible closures through the month for work on an emergency, 42-inch wastewater pipe.
The city is placing six pumps along the Ala Wai Canal's makai bank to divert wastewater from aging pipes to a new bypass in case of an emergency.
The city began work on a new, $20 million sewage bypass after a underground pipe burst March 24, prompting the city to divert 48 million gallons of wastewater into the Ala Wai. The bypass, which is being built as it floats on the canal, will eventually be submerged and hooked up to the existing wastewater system in the Ala Moana Park.
From there, wastewater will go to the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. Once the bypass is completed, the city will start the second phase of the project, which involves microtunneling two, 1,200-foot lines under Kaiolu Street.
The city wants to complete the project by year's end.