Highway sink hole cuts off Wai'anae Coast residents
By Scott Ishikawa
Advertiser Transportation Writer
Another day, another water main break in Wai'anae.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
In what is becoming commonplace on the Leeward Coast, a water main break yesterday along Farrington Highway cut off the only major access road to Makaha, leaving a 15-foot-wide sink hole in the middle of the thoroughfare.
Traffic along Farrington Highway quickly backed up yesterday while water department employees worked to repair a water main break that left a 15-foot sink hole in the highway.
Honolulu Board of Water Supply officials completed repairs to a corroded 20-inch water transmission line at 10:15 last night, but were still working on repaving the road, said Manno Yamashiro, a water systems operator. It was possible the roadwork could be completed sometime this morning, Yamashiro said.
Meanwhile, one lane of Farrington Highway was open and police were sending cars through in alternating directions, an officer at the Wai'anae substation said shortly after midnight. A dirt road that had been used as a detour earlier in the day was not being used at night, the officer said.
The water main broke shortly before 9 a.m. near the Wai'anae Fire Station and the Wai'anae Neighborhood Community Center, Board of Water Supply spokeswoman Denise DeCosta said.
Police shut down the highway between Ala Akau and Ala Hema streets to motorists at 11 a.m. when the road surface began to sink. Traffic to and from Makaha was diverted along a nearby private, unpaved stretch of road.
Police reopened one lane of Farrington Highway at 6 p.m. for town-bound traffic, while allowing Makaha-bound traffic to use the dirt road.
The one-lane stretch connecting Ala Akau and Ala Hema, however, allowed cars to travel along it in only one direction at a time. The detour turned the journey from one side of the break to the other into a two-hour sweltering ordeal for Dawne Hampton of Makaha Valley and her family.
"Yes, we need a second road, most definitely," Hampton said in reference to a second access or emergency road for Leeward residents.
To repair the break, Board of Water Supply officials shut down water service in the surrounding community. A water wagon was stationed at an apartment complex on Kau'iokalani Place.
The broken 20-inch line feeds an area reservoir.
Two city buses on the Makaha side yesterday shuttled passengers as far as they could along Farrington Highway. The passengers then walked nearly half a mile to the town side of the main break to be picked up by city buses on that end.
"They should fill the hole to the top with water and make it a pool or Jacuzzi," bus passenger Jonathan Dias said jokingly while walking by the sunken pavement.
HandiVan driver Stanley Souza Jr. was stuck on the Makaha side of the break. Souza was heading along Farrington Highway toward Makaha to pick up a passenger about 15 minutes before the pipe burst.
"I head back the same way, and water was flying everywhere," Souza said.
The water almost flooded a nearby home, if not for neighbors who helped bail the water away until firefighters could pump it out.
Makaha residents did not receive their mail yesterday because of the road shutdown.
The latest traffic standstill revived the much-discussed issue of building an emergency access road for the area. Recurring water main breaks and police standoffs have shut down the only major road into the area repeatedly.
The city has spent $1 million for a consultant for the planned emergency road, and approved another $5 million in the 2002 budget for construction. Mayor Jeremy Harris recently estimated the total cost for the emergency road at between $30 million and $48 million.
Gov. Ben Cayetano has ruled out building a permanent second access road to Wai'anae, saying it would cost nearly $1 billion.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
"Someone gotta build some kind of second road out here," said 40-year Wai'anae resident Jenny Soto while walking in the heat yesterday. "The governor no more money to build one road, but he get money to build one aquarium."
A bicycle was the quickest way to get past the sink hole (left side of photo).
"I know you heard this before, but if this was Hawai'i Kai, they would build an emergency road in no time flat," said area resident Dean Rosado. "I guess we don't pay enough taxes out here."
DeCosta said new water mains are scheduled to be installed along Farrington Highway starting in October.
Another water main break occurred on Kahekili Highway in Kane'ohe on Friday afternoon. The break left Kahalu'u residents with diminished or no water service Friday evening.
The main was repaired yesterday morning, but reservoirs had fallen so low that officials were asking residents to conserve water until the tanks fill up again. For example, Yamashiro said, the Pohakupu reservoir in Kailua was at 4 1/2 feet shortly after midnight today, compared to its normal level of 18 1/2 feet.
Thousands of Kailua residents were without water yesterday morning, including Castle Medical Center, which was cut off for three hours.
Hospital staff used bottled water and waterless soap during the shortage, and fans for ventilation because the water-dependent air conditioning system was down.
Water officials had hoped a Kailua reservoir would supply area residents with enough water until the pipe was fixed, but said water use was heavy.
DeCosta said a contractor was drilling to install a new water line along Kahekili Highway when the 30-inch water main was struck.
Water pressure along the Windward side was expected to be back to normal levels last night, she said.
Scott Ishikawa covers transportation issues. You can reach him at sishikawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
