Niu sewer work to slow
Kalanianaole traffic

The project to fix the corroded
pipeline is expected to last
about three years

Drivers can expect traffic along Kalanianaole Highway to be slowed throughout the summer as the city begins a Niu sewer line project.

That's just the forerunner of congestion to come as the city proceeds with a $10 million, three-year project to replace the corroded pipeline that ruptured three times in February.

Construction will take place during off-peak traffic hours in the daytime and overnight from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Contractor James W. Glover Ltd. will begin work April 25 on an above-ground bypass line that will run from the Niu Valley Wastewater Pump Station near Niu Valley Shopping Center to a trunk line at Puuikena Drive, the entrance to Hawaii Loa Ridge.

Wayne Hashiro, director of the city Department of Design and Construction, said the emergency bypass construction will continue into mid-August and cost about $1 million.

The temporary line will remain in service until the permanent underground main is installed, a project that will take two to three years, Hashiro said. The bypass will run along the median and will be above ground except for intersections.

The contractor will try to limit lane closures to one lane in each direction, according to the city announcement.

Details on the project will be presented to the public at the April 26 meeting of the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board, Hashiro said.