The projects range from the mundane (guardrail replacement and traffic-signal modernization) to the fanciful, including $2 million for preliminary planning on a tunnel linking Sand Island to the rest of O'ahu.

While the bulk of the work is set for O'ahu, Hawai'i County will see the biggest increase in projects, including more than $37 million for Saddle Road improvements.

In all, the Big Island could see more than $100 million in new highway spending in the next two years. And that doesn't include another $23 million to widen Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway in Kona, one of the state's fastest growing and most congested areas; that work will begin next year, but the money was released for the project in 2004.

Details of the work are included in the new Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, which guides state Transportation Department spending in the coming fiscal years. The plan sets transportation priorities and helps planners keep track of available federal, state and local highway money.

"This is like our master plan," DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said. "Some things always get changed or deferred for different reasons, but the goal is to get as many of these projects done as possible."

Most of the money for the project comes from the Federal Highways Administration; the rest is made up by state and local matching funds, including money raised through a 16 cents per gallon state tax on every gallon of gasoline.

Last fiscal year, the state spent about $274 million on highways, a figure pumped up by the start of several big projects, including a $55 million widening of H-1 Freeway near Waimalu.

"The good news is that 62 out of the 85 projects scheduled for 2004 had the funds obligated for them," Ishikawa said. The rest of the projects could be pushed into future years.

The biggest project in 2005 is the $34 million budgeted for construction of a North-South Road connecting Kapolei Parkway to H-1 Freeway.

The state also plans to spend $22.5 million by the end of next year to bring sidewalks around the state into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Ishikawa said.

The plan also calls for more than $63 million to be spent on bridge upgrades, replacements and seismic retrofitting throughout the state by the end of 2006.