State delays highway projects
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
The state Transportation Department is delaying the start of three high-profile highway improvement projects.
Two of the projects, a widening of H-1 Freeway near Waimalu and a much heralded freeway service patrol, were scheduled to start this year. They are being pushed back for different reasons, Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa said last week.
A third project, the second phase of the Fort Weaver Road widening, will be delayed four to six months because the original design consultant has gone bankrupt and the state needs to hire a new one, Ishikawa said.
The state plans to delay the start of construction on the $70 million H-1 widening project until January to avoid conflicts with back-to-school and holiday season travel.
"This one was a no-brainer," Ishikawa said. "We wanted to start the project on the right foot, and it didn't make any sense to do that at the same time we were telling people to beat the back-to-school jam."
The project will widen H-1 to six lanes in the westbound direction from the Waimalu viaduct to the Pearl City off-ramp, a stretch of road that is used by an estimated 220,000 vehicles every day.
Although much of the work will be done at night and all freeway lanes will remain open during rush hours, the state was worried that the use of heavy equipment and other construction would still cause problems for daytime commuters during the school and holiday seasons, Ishikawa said.
The new freeway service patrol was supposed to start this summer but has been pushed back to August 2004.
When operational, the patrol will provide free minor services to stranded motorists on the H-1, H-2, H-3 and Moanalua freeways. The services will include fixing flat tires, providing tows off the freeway and giving gas to those who run out.
Ishikawa said planning for the scope of the service has not been completed.
Among other issues, he said the state needs to coordinate the responsibilities of the patrol service with Honolulu police, fire and emergency medical services.
In addition, the state wants to add more surveillance cameras along the freeway before starting the patrols, he said.
"Everybody still thinks the patrol is a great idea, but we're working out the details, like where are we going to put a stalled car that is towed off the freeway," Ishikawa said.
The bankruptcy of the design consultant will not affect the first phase of the Fort Weaver Road widening, which is scheduled to begin next March.
In that $7 million phase, a half-mile stretch of the busy 'Ewa plain corridor is expected to be widened from four to six lanes from Farrington Highway to Laulaunui Street.
Designer work on the second, longer phase of the project from Laulaunui Street to Geiger Road was expected to be done by the end of this year. Because the state has to rebid the project and hire a new consultant, the planning is expected to be delayed until April 2004.
Even so, the state hopes to begin construction on the $18 million second phase by October 2004, Ishikawa said.
"Our goal is to try to start work on the second phase while the first phase is still under construction," he said. "It appears we'll still be able to do that."
