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East Oahu faces
21 months of
traffic snarls

A water main project will cause
traffic congestion for nearly two years

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By Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin

Motorists on Kalanianaole Highway face 21 months of traffic congestion during a water main replacement project, and it's not going to be quicker even if the contractor is allowed to work at night.

"The traffic is less at night, that's the only benefit," state Department of Transportation district engineer Martin Okabe told an east Honolulu crowd last night.

He said the decision about night construction has not been made.

Grace Pacific Corp. has applied for a Department of Health variance to exceed the allowable night noise level during pipe laying and road resurfacing work between Ainakoa Avenue and West Hind Drive.

The $3.8 million job is expected to get under way next month in the westbound lanes at the Waialae end.

About 40 people attended the meeting held to provide resident's comments for the Department of Health.

"If it will not shorten the time, the neighborhood will find it very difficult to accept night work," said Barbara Marumoto, former legislator for the area.

"It's going to turn to road rage," predicted Lester Leu, recalling that east end residents had years of traffic constrictions during the Kalanianaole widening project in the early 1990s.

"You're going to make our community wild," said Leu, president of the Waialae Country Club Community Association.

He and other speakers focused on the fallout the project will have on the 250-unit makai subdivision across the highway from Kalani High School.

Motorists already use the neighborhood streets as a detour, he said, "You're going to change it from a neighborhood to a highway for two years."

Resident Stephanie Spangler predicted: "The traffic through our neighborhood will increase to 10,000 as it did during the street widening. It's unacceptable."

She urged that the Transportation Department close both streets entering the subdivision to block motorists from using it as a detour.

"Are we going to inconvenience 80,000 people to convenience 180 people?" asked Hawaii Kai resident Jane Brown, referring to the daily traffic counts for Kalanianaole Highway versus the subdivision.

Okabe said the department would consider closing Waikui Road into the subdivision during daytime construction, but not at night.

Board of Water Supply engineer Mike Fuke said the project is necessary to replace a deteriorating 12-inch main which was laid in the 1950s and has experienced several breaks.

The three-phase project will begin with installation of an eight-inch line on the westbound side between Ainakoa and Laukahi streets to serve mauka residences. Two westbound lanes -- including a contra-flow lane -- would be open during the four-month phase.

A 16-inch water main will be laid on the eastbound side from Laukahi to West Hind Drive, a nine month project.

Resurfacing, along with work on sidewalks, bike lanes and curb ramps will take about four months, and improvements to guardrails and drainage, new signs and pavement markings another four months.