Current Punchbowl
roadwork almost pau

The city is planning work on the
strip from King to Ala Moana

---

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.com

Downtown commuters, rejoice: The latest roadwork on Punchbowl Street will soon be pau.

An additional mauka-bound lane between Vineyard Boulevard and Lusitana Street was paved during the weekend, said Rodney Haraga, a project manager with city contractor KFC Engineering.

The contractor is waiting for the pavement to dry thoroughly before putting in permanent stripings and markings, Haraga said.

That is expected to happen by Monday.

Meanwhile, work between Vineyard and Beretania Street has been stalled while design changes are made to work around underground utilities found near the Health Department building.

"But we're moving along with that project in putting in a bus lane," Haraga said. "Eventually, that section will be paved from curb to curb."

Completion is now slated for the end of next month.

Curb-to-curb paving work on Punchbowl from Beretania to King Street is finished, for the most part, Haraga said.

A later phase, if money is available, might add some curb ramps at the Punchbowl-Beretania intersection.

The city is still in the planning stage for the section of Punchbowl from King to Ala Moana. A design is expected to be completed in November, with the project commencing next year.

Original plans by Mayor Jeremy Harris called for Punchbowl to go two-way from Ala Moana all the way to the freeway. But Haraga said he does not know if that is still part of the plan, and city officials could not be reached for comment.

On King Street a yearlong project began last month that involves the city doing major road reconstruction from Liliha to River streets and from Bethel to South streets.

The Honolulu Board of Water Supply is also installing a 24-inch waterline from Liliha to River.

Contractors attempting to put in a drain line near the Richards Street intersection have found unidentified fiber-optic cables which are slowing construction down, Haraga said.

The work is being done on the mauka lanes of the road, he said.

The last phase will involve reconstruction and resurfacing from curb to curb.

In other town-related construction news, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman said improvements on the Punahou Street offramp are expected to be finished by the end of October.

That project adds one lane to the offramp, a second lane at the beginning of the ramp and expansion to four lanes at the end of the ramp so that two lanes can flow onto Punahou's makai-bound lanes.

The Punahou project is on hiatus through Aug. 29 to avoid traffic delays as most children return to school.