Sewer work adds to Hawai'i Kai tie-ups
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Bureau
HAWAI'I KAI — Area residents should gird for additional traffic delays when the sewer company begins replacing pipes on Lunalilo Home Road.
Starting July 9, Hawai'i-American Water Co. will begin work on 1,000 feet of pipe from Kalaniana'ole Highway to Anapalau Street, along the kokohead side of the street.
The work is expected to take four weeks and comes on top of a major, 21-month construction project already under way to replace water and gas lines along Kalaniana'ole Highway.
Because of the sewer pipe work, some homes along Lunalilo Home Road will be without sewer service for anywhere from six to 12 hours; affected customers will be notified.
"Our parents come in from Lunalilo Home Road," said Casey Barros, Hawai'i Kai Baptist Church and Childcare Center director. "They'll probably have to drive through the back gate and walk through the playground.
"That's going to add congestion on that street, since this is a preschool. Parents have to park and bring their children in."
Spokesman Robert Smith said the company will mail letters about the project to customers and will speak to the most-affected residents — the library, the Hawai'i Kai Baptist Church and the Koko Marina Shopping Center.
A traffic control plan has been submitted to the city for review.
While the work will not require crews to dig up the road, traffic will have to be detoured from Kaumakani Street near the Hawai'i Kai Public Library onto Lunalilo Home Road, Smith said.
The detour is necessary so that a temporary pipe can be laid on top of the road while the pipes are being worked on, Smith said.
Smith outlined the company's plan Tuesday night to the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board to reline the pipes using heated, pressurized water along the 18- and 21-inch sewer pipes.
"We debated whether to bury the bypass pipes to keep the intersections open or to lay the pipe along the top," Smith said. "But the costs are higher. Eventually projects like this end up in your sewer fees, and a detour will save us all a lot of money."
The relined pipes should last another 20 years, Smith said. The last time sewer pipes were worked on along Lunalilo Home Road was about 10 years ago, he said.
