State extends Lunalilo
ramp closure project

Some Makiki residents complain
that their travel time is longer

A project aimed at easing congestion on the H-1 freeway -- which closes the Lunalilo Street onramp to morning commuters -- will be extended until February so more data can be collected and community concerns answered, state transportation officials said.

The decision has angered some Makiki residents, who say the closure adds as much as 15 minutes to their morning drive times.

"It's affecting us negatively," said Wilfred Motokana, of Makiki. "We used to be able to just hop onto the freeway."

Since early August, drivers using the Lunalilo ramp weekdays from 6 to 9:30 a.m. have been routed to the Punchbowl Street onramp via Vineyard Boulevard. The state's preliminary data shows the change is working and has had little effect on area residents.

But many of the 25 Makiki residents who gathered last night at the Hawaiian Mission Academy chapel to discuss the project disagreed, saying the traffic change has lengthened their morning commutes.

"I can tell you that there are many days where it's backed up to Pensacola (Street)" on Vineyard Boulevard, said Rep. Brian Schatz, whose district includes Makiki. "I think our perceived perspective is getting lost in this data collection."

State Transportation Director Rod Haraga said the Transportation Department will continue to look at the effects of the rerouting on the community, and expected to send surveyors to some of the traffic congestion areas mentioned in the meeting.

The time extension for the pilot project will cost about $250,000, on top of the original $200,000 that was set aside, he said.

Haraga said much of the data collected in the initial pilot was skewed because the project coincided with emergency sewer repairs on Kapiolani Boulevard, which shut down two lanes in either direction and suspended morning contraflow.

He said the next "clean data" that can be taken will be after University of Hawaii students return from winter break in January. November and December traffic data, he said, will be affected by holiday shopping rushes and winter school vacations.

He also said a survey that the Transportation Department took of East Oahu and Makiki commuters included those who would not have regularly taken the H-1 freeway because of the Kapiolani repairs, and a new survey will be conducted.

The state's data shows:

» Travel time savings on the H-1 freeway after the project started was initially 10 minutes but dropped after Kapiolani's sewer repair work began.

» The time it took to get from Piikoi Street to the freeway's Queen Emma Overpass via the Lunalilo Street onramp was an average of 9.2 minutes before the demonstration. With the rerouting, the same distance was covered in 4.5 minutes.

» There was no difference in the amount of traffic on the Punahou Street H-1 onramp before and during the ramp project.

» There was a small increase of traffic on the School Street onramp, but the ramp is not congested.