Farrington roadwork delayed
By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer
Work on $8 million in safety improvements along Farrington Highway has been delayed until next year.
Construction was supposed to begin this month on a number of upgrades intended to address long-standing safety issues on one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the state.
The state Department of Transportation says the work should begin in January or February.
"We have to get the Federal Highway Administration to approve it first before we can go advertise the bid," said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa. "It's federally funded, and they just asked us to do a couple of more things and then we can go ahead with the bid."
Some longtime Wai'anae Coast observers were skeptical.
"If that's their reason, it ain't unusual," said Albert Silva, vice chairman of the Wai'anae Neighborhood Board. He said the improvements are overdue and are a symptom of continual neglect in west O'ahu.
"To get started around January or February — that's not the time to start a job out here on the Wai'anae Coast," Silva said. "That's when we get our rains."
Silva said he wouldn't be surprised if the project gets delayed again before it gets under way.
"There are so many things we've been waiting for so long," he said. "You know, it's like how you keep an elephant on the move by hanging a banana over his head on a stick. That's how it is out here."
The work will include widening Farrington Highway in spots and installing barriers to separate oncoming traffic, restriping crosswalks and lanes, putting in better lighting and improving sidewalks.
The project is scheduled to last 17 months once it begins, Ishikawa said, with a mile stretch between Nanakuli and Ma'ili — the scene of numerous head-on collisions and fatalities — receiving top priority.
"We're going to widen the shoulders so that we can have room to put in the barriers," he said.
Zip lane-type barriers will be used instead of the more common fixed concrete barriers, Ishikawa said. The reasoning is that the zip barriers — which are also concrete but smaller and less rigidly secured — will absorb impact better and may prevent a crashed vehicle from careening back into traffic, he said.
Traffic accidents have claimed the lives of at least 80 people between Honokai Hale and Ka'ena Point since 1990.
Besides the safety factor, the four-lane road — the only way in and out of Wai'anae — has also been a source of frustration to residents because of frequent shutdowns from water main breaks, traffic accidents and other situations that block Farrington and leave motorists stranded for hours.
Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.
