Kokua Line June Watanabe

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DOT well aware of H-1
bottlenecks around offramps

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Question: Can anything be done about the traffic that bottlenecks on the H-1 freeway between the Kinau Street and Punahou Street offramps? Every year the problem gets worse. The problem is obvious and common to many areas in Hawaii -- too many onramps and offramps are located on a short stretch of road. Unfortunately, our civil engineers and planners of years past were very short-sighted. I don't know of any other metropolitan area the size of Honolulu that has so many ramps located in a span of less than a mile. The problem is exacerbated by inconsiderate motorists unwilling to wait and moving into the far right lane (often illegally changing lanes across a solid road line marking) just to get a few car lengths ahead, but slowing all traffic down when they are required to merge back into traffic a few hundred feet down the road, often speeding down the shoulder of the road and forcing their way back into traffic. I would suggest closing the Ward Avenue onramp as an obvious solution as there is an onramp again just two blocks further, just off Piikoi Street. I am sure that I am not the first person who has raised these issues. Whom can I contact to express my concern and plea for a remedy?

Answer: You can contact the state Department of Transportation's Highway Traffic Branch at 692-7671 or the Public Affairs Office at 587-2160 (e-mail dotpao@hawaii.gov).

But, as you noted, it won't be the first time DOT officials have heard the complaint.

You are "absolutely correct" that on- and offramps designed close to each other, "which may have worked in the past, are now causing backups because of the increasing number of cars on Oahu," said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

Unfortunately, although various remedies have been suggested, one isn't just around the bend.

Panos Prevedouros, a University of Hawaii associate professor of civil engineering, has conducted studies for the DOT to see how traffic flow could be improved on the H-1 Freeway, between Middle Street and Koko Head Avenue.

His five-year, $188,000 project looked at both east- and westbound traffic. Among his recommendations for the eastbound lanes, reported last year, are to:

>> Close the Piikoi Street onramp and extend the existing Vineyard Boulevard onramp auxiliary lane from Ward Avenue onramp to the Punahou Street offramp, and add a freeway onramp at Punahou Street. In the short term, close Ward Avenue and Piikoi Street onramps between 7 and 8 a.m., and meter the Vineyard Boulevard onramp to reduce traffic on the freeway during the peak morning rush hour.

Metering involves using lights to control the timing of cars entering the freeway.

>> Relocate the Bingham Street offramp closer to Isenberg Street. Create an extension from Isenberg Street to meet University Avenue near Varsity Place.

>> Close the University Avenue offramp, and extend the University Avenue onramp by widening the viaduct over University Avenue to create a longer acceleration lane.

Another recommendation was to restripe the freeway lanes to create an additional lane of traffic.

Transportation officials still are studying Prevedouros' study, Ishikawa said last week. "As the UH professor admits, not all of the studies may be financially feasible."

And, while restriping lanes would be a quick fix, it is not as simple as it may sound.

The state would need to get federal approval to reduce the width of the lanes to less than the federal standard of 12 feet.

While there are no immediate plans to address traffic jams in the eastbound lanes, the DOT will be conducting a three-month demonstration project in the westbound lanes that will involve closing the Lunalilo onramp.

Prevedouros is one of those behind the planned Lunalilo demonstration project that the DOT would like to try this fall, Ishikawa said.

In 1997, the DOT conducted a two-week demonstration project in which traffic was redirected from the Lunalilo onramp to the Vineyard offramp.

"Traffic started to flow better by the end of the second week, but the project ended and was never continued for some reason," Ishikawa said. "Now we want to try this."

During the upcoming demonstration, the Lunalilo onramp would be closed during the morning rush hour to prevent westbound traffic from "weaving" back and forth along the Lunalilo onramp and Vineyard offramp, which is "one of the reasons traffic is backing up to Kahala Mall at this point," he said.

Transportation officials plan to meet with Makiki residents in the next few months to discuss the project, since they would be the most affected by the change, Ishikawa said.

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Useful phone numbers

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