Work starts to install
median on Farrington

The state will begin work next week on a project to prevent head-on collisions on a mile-long stretch of Farrington Highway between Nanakuli and Maili that has been notorious for such crashes.

Waianae Coast residents should prepare for delays due to lane closures on Farrington as the state Department of Transportation prepares to install a median concrete barrier. The lanes will be closed between Hakimo and Kaukama roads. Preparation work should be completed within two weeks. Installation of the median will begin in early October and should take about a month, said Scott Ishikawa, transportation spokesman.

The left lane in each direction will be closed Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. The area has been the site of several head-on collisions, including an April 2003 accident that killed Cleighton Adams, a former church deacon who was on the way to an Easter egg hunt.

Waianae Coast residents have faced traffic delays since late last year when the state began widening Farrington by seven feet to create enough space for the barriers.

Ishikawa said the state has elected to use concrete blocks similar to those used in the H-1 freeway Zipper Lane because they are more flexible and can absorb the impact of a vehicle better than a traditional concrete barrier.

"While we want to keep them from causing a head-on collision, you don't want the vehicle to be hitting the median barrier and flying off like a pinball machine into the other lane and causing an accident," Ishikawa said.

The 1,500-pound blocks will be linked like a chain, forming a continuous barrier, he said.

The barrier project is part of a larger, $7.6 million Farrington Highway improvement project.