Likelike Highway
partial closure
begins today

The flow of traffic through
the active tunnel will adjust
based on a schedule

Motorists are reminded that starting today, repairs to the town-bound lanes of the Wilson Tunnels mean one-way traffic on Likelike Highway for the next month.

Although the town-bound tunnel will be closed, morning commuters traveling into town will be contra-flowed through the Kaneohe-bound tunnel from 4 a.m. to noon. Then, from 1 p.m. to 3 a.m., motorists will be allowed to head back to the Windward side.

On the weekends there will be no contra-flow lane going into town. Only vehicles traveling to the Windward side will be allowed on Likelike Highway. State transportation officials said the work is needed so that crews can dig up a mile and a half of concrete in the tunnel and replace it with a less slippery surface.

"The main objective is to get the Windward commuters into town in the morning and home in the afternoons," said Transportation Director Rodney Haraga. "Meanwhile, the new concrete floor in the tunnels will create a safer highway by providing more traction for the vehicle tires."

Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said some motorists have already noticed a difference from the earlier repaving work in the Kaneohe-bound tunnels.

"Everybody said they feel more grip to their tires," he said. "If you notice the H-3 freeway, it has grooves on the surface, which creates more traction for the tires. ... That's what we're doing."

The $13.8 million project to fix the Wilson Tunnels began in spring 2004 and is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The tunnels were built in the late 1950s, and work includes repairing tunnel leaks and cracks, laying a new concrete floor, replacing ventilation equipment, installing ceramic tile along tunnel walls and improving the drainage system.

State officials said the last time major renovations were done to the Wilson Tunnels was in 1979.