$70M pledged
for roads

Hannemann also introduces a new
Web site to report potholes

Mayor Mufi Hannemann pledged yesterday to spend more than $70 million in the next year to fill in the island's potholes.

Where to report potholes How do you report potholes to the city? » Call the Pothole Hotline at 527-6006. Information left by the caller will be sent by audio e-mail to a central location. » Beginning Monday, go to the city's new Web site for reporting potholes and fill out a form at www.honolulu.gov/csd/pothole.htm

He also announced an Internet site to help residents report roads in need of repair.

"Make no mistake about it: Eventually every part of Oahu, no matter where you reside, is going to be affected, and it's going to be impacted by this stepped-up effort on our part to fix the roads," Hannemann said.

"If you don't see your street being fixed immediately, eventually we will get to it," he said, asking for the public's patience.

The city filled more than 6,300 potholes in February, 1,400 more than during the same month last year.

In its continued battle against potholes, the city plans to:

Laverne Higa, director of the Department of Facility, said $938,000 in operating funds have been budgeted for next fiscal year for pothole repair and the skincoat first-aid work, which might look like a checkerboard pattern.

The skincoat process uses a three-quarter-inch layer of asphalt that covers patches of road for a smoother ride.

Depending on road conditions, the patch could last several years. That is why the city chose to use the skincoat process first in drier parts of the island, Hannemann said.

The city has already done skincoat work on Lunalilo Home Road, Moanalua Road in Aiea and Pearl City, and Makuahine Street in Kalihi.

Of the city's 3,400 miles of road, about 650 are in need of major rehabilitation.

The city has budgeted $40 million for the current fiscal year and is proposing to use another $30 million for the next fiscal year.

About $8 million of that will be used to reconstruct 50 to 60 miles of side streets as part of a localized rehabilitation approach. The city is seeking to reduce the time it takes to take a project from planning to construction, to a few months from a year.

The city plans to begin work on major thoroughfares, including Waimano Home Road, Makakilo Drive, Waialua Beach Road, Pupukea Road, Lumiaina Street, Paiwa Street and Piikoi Street between King Street and the freeway. Their goal is to reconstruct 120 to 150 lane-miles of major thoroughfares in the next year.