H-1 West closed tomorrow night

State transportation officials plan to close the westbound lanes of the H-1 freeway from the Moanalua Freeway merge to the Pearl City offramp tomorrow night as part of the final stage of a two-year widening project.

"We're at the home stretch of the project," said state Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa, "and it hasn't been an easy job."

The closure is scheduled from 9:30 p.m. tomorrow to 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

The Department of Transportation will be re-striping the 1.5-mile section and installing freeway signs.

Westbound motorists are advised to take Moanalua Road or Kamehameha Highway. Vehicles can get back on the H-1 at the Pearl City onramp.

The $55 million project to add a sixth lane to the Ewa-bound lanes is scheduled to open in mid-June.

The freeway widening will help eliminate the bottleneck where the H-3 and Moanalua freeways merge onto the H-1.

"I don't think this will eliminate traffic completely, but at least the construction will finally be finished," said Waianae resident Jaimee Suan.

She joins 115,000 motorists traveling in that direction every afternoon from her job in Honolulu.