Posted at 12:13 p.m., Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Castle Junction roadwork under way
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
State transportation director Rod Haraga told reporters at the junction that the final permits have been approved and Hawaiian Electric Co. crews have already begun removing power lines atop the crumbling bluff.
Goodfellow Brothers Inc. is the contractor for the six-month project that will shave an estimated 240,000 cubic yards of dirt from the bluff, Haraga said.
The dirt is being sold to three commercial operations.
The project at the foot of the Pali in Windward O'ahu will also reshape the merge lane at the intersection of Kamehameha and Kalaniana'ole highways, Haraga said: The lane will be widened to 12 feet with an eight-foot shoulder and a six-foot gutter stretching for much of the lane.
The work is not expected to close either of the adjacent mauka-bound lanes, Haraga said. But transportation officials hope to ease existing traffic with a contra-flow lane that will be put in use Monday morning. The contraflow lane, which will be open from 5:30 to 6:45 a.m., will stretch from Kapa'a Quarry Road to Kamehameha Highway.
The work was prompted by a series of landslides in May and June, which led the state to build a temporary wall along the hillside to keep debris away from motorists. Since that time a mauka-bound section of Kalaniana'ole Highway used for turns toward Kane'ohe has remained closed, causing some delays for town-bound motorists.
