Dillingham water project nearing end
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Dillingham Boulevard has been called one of the worst roads in Honolulu with good reason.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
For four years, a city water project has left a 1-mile stretch of the critical Kalihi artery torn up, forcing residents and businesses to negotiate an obstacle course of potholes, steel plates and lane closures.
The Board of Water Supply said its project on Dillingham Boulevard will be done by Sept. 15, with no more plans to dig up the road.
But the on-again, off-again construction that began in 1998 is nearly done. The city Board of Water Supply said its project to install a 42-inch water pipe under Dillingham will be finished by Sept. 15. City crews will begin repaving the road this weekend. Other sections will be repaved as work is completed, and before long it should be smooth sailing for the 30,000 drivers who use it every day.
Water-main work between King Street and Waiakamilo Road began in 1998 but stalled after the original contractor went bankrupt, according to Clifford Jamile, manager and chief engineer at the Board of Water Supply. A new contractor was hired for the $7 million project and has been working day and night to complete the job on time.
In comparison, the $86 million state project to widen a 3-mile stretch of Kalaniana'ole Highway took only six months longer — 4 1/2 years.
Kalihi residents do have alternatives to move to and from downtown; they can use Nimitz Highway or North King Street, which run parallel to Dillingham. But the dozens of light industrial and retail businesses, restaurants and schools in the construction zone have had no choice but to endure the traffic and suffer the consequences as residents have taken their business elsewhere.
Students attending Honolulu Community College, which fronts the primary construction area on Dillingham, said they try to avoid the street, but the crunch of cars trying to get to school can then create traffic jams on other streets.
"It's one of the worst roads on the island," said Shirley Faaola, who commutes to school from 'Ewa. "As soon as I see traffic, I turn."
Don Hazzard, a part owner of Aloha Copy Systems on Dillingham, said business has been tough since Sept. 11, and having the continual road construction hasn't helped, but he hopes that customers will come back to Dillingham after the work is completed.
"I'll be happy to see it finished," Hazzard said. "Getting the traffic to flow again will be even better."
Jamile said the new water line is needed to guarantee service to Honolulu, Waikiki and Hawai'i Kai. The existing line was installed in 1945, he said.
Work on one of the final sections on Dillingham will begin this week with night shifts in the crowded commercial area between Ka'a'ahi Place and North King Street.
"This is the most difficult portion of the project," Jamile said. "We have to dig under all the other existing utilities in the area."
There is also some work left to be done at Alakawa and Kohou streets.
Jamile said the board replaces about 40 miles of water lines a year and plans to replace 2,000 miles of pipe in the next 30 years at an estimated cost of $2.3 billion.
But once this project is completed, Jamile said, there are no more plans to dig up Dillingham.
"That is it, as far as we can tell," he said. "That's all we have planned unless somebody else has got something else we don't know about."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
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