Posted on: Friday, November 8, 2002
Kalihi drivers get updated timetable
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
The city Board of Water Supply's announcement in July that four years of underground work on Dillingham Boulevard would finally be completed Sept. 15 was greeted with a sigh of relief by long-suffering Kalihi drivers.
But that date came and went, and now the board says work on the torn-up 1-mile stretch will be completed by the end of the month, with road resurfacing done by mid-December.
Merchants greeted the news with skepticism.
"Everybody says everything is running smoothly, but Kalihi is still really frustrated about the construction," said Cindy Rasmussen of the Kalihi Business Association.
"Everybody is pretty tired of it. It doesn't look even near completion to me."
Dillingham Boulevard has been torn up since 1998 while the city installs a 42-inch water main, forcing residents and businesses to negotiate an obstacle course of potholes, steel plates and lane closures.
The project has had several setbacks, most recently heavy rains and extended negotiations with the contractor over the cost of a particularly difficult section, according to Donna Kiyosaki, deputy chief engineer with the city Board of Water Supply.
"They gave us a proposal; we were negotiating price, back and forth," Kiyosaki said. "It was a delay in the contract, but in the end it saved the taxpayers a lot money so I think it was worth it."
The negotiated price saved taxpayers about $500,000 on the $7 million project, Kiyosaki said, but delayed completion for at least two months.
Okata Trucking Co. is the general contractor.
The BWS says the new main is needed to guarantee service to the urban core of Honolulu and to Waikiki and Hawai'i Kai. The existing line was installed in 1945.
The especially difficult section is on Dillingham between Ka'a'ahi Place and North King Street, a crowded commercial area. The pipe there must be laid 20 feet underground, to avoid existing utility lines, and encased in concrete for protection.
While night work continues on that section, the pipe is laid and connected up to that point, Kiyosaki said, and crews are pressure-testing the pipe.
"As we pressure-test and fill up a couple of holes we have with the plates over them, we will be resurfacing the road," Kiyosaki said. "I say this tongue-in-cheek because I know all sorts of things happen, but we are going to be resurfacing that area by the end of next week, Nov. 15.
"We are currently shooting for the end of November to be complete. And for the resurfacing to maybe lead into the first week of December. If we are not out by mid-December, somebody is going to be very upset."
The road is used by 30,000 drivers every day, according to state traffic counts, and along with North King Street and Nimitz Highway it is heavily used by commuters between the airport and downtown.
"They told us they were going to resurface the road. You should try to drive down it. It's awful," said Marcia Wong of Bob's Bar-B-Que Restaurant. "I'm not holding my breath until they finish."
Water-main work between King Street and Waiakamilo Road began four years ago but stalled after the original contractor went bankrupt, according to Clifford Jamile, manager and chief engineer at the BWS.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
