One year after a $1 million sidewalk improvement project was dedicated on Maunakea Street in Chinatown, merchants and residents are saying it is flawed and needs to be repaired before someone is seriously hurt.

"I'm worried about the elderly people," said Sam Say, owner of M.P. Lei Shop at the corner of Maunakea and Pauahi streets. One man, "he fell and kicked his toe and his toenail lift up like that. I sit here and see people fall all the time. It is scary."

The new sidewalks are made of stone paver tiles designed to look like the sidewalks once built from the granite blocks used as ballast in sailing ships arriving in Honolulu more than 100 years ago.

The problem, merchants say, is that the grout between the new stones is eroding, leaving a gap that can trip up people with canes or walkers, women in high heels or children on skateboards.

Say has seen several people trip over the tiles or slip on them in the rain and fall hard to the ground.

"If they can make it level, then they pull their cart and it doesn't get stuck," he said. "They should do something. Maybe a grinder to make the surface a little rough. It looks nice, but the way they built them, it is dangerous."

Ben Lee, former city managing director under former mayor Jeremy Harris, declined comment on the sidewalk. The project was approved under the Harris administration.

The 10-month, $957,000 project was completed in November 2004 and included new granite sidewalks on Maunakea Street from King to Beretania streets, Americans With Disabilities Act accessible curb ramps, new pavement, gutters, street lighting and traffic-signal systems.

Maunakea is in the center of the historic Chinatown district, with buildings on both sides that for decades have housed pastry shops and restaurants, lei stands and vegetable markets, jewelry stores and herb shops that give the area its ambiance.

City Councilman Rod Tam, who represents Chinatown, said he plans to ask that funds to repair the sidewalk be put in the next city budget.

"We get sued left and right," Tam said. "A lawsuit could cost even more than repairs to make it safe."

City spokesman Bill Brennan said it would cost an estimated $400,000 to remove and replace the existing 10,000 square feet of stone paver tiles. Brennan said that simply adding more grout to make the sidewalk level is not practical.

"Changing the height of the grout would require the removing of all the grout between the tiles and installation of new grout," he said. "This process would be labor intensive, since the tiles are staggered.

"The (city) Department of Design and Construction does not believe that putting new grout over the existing grout would hold, and would become a maintenance nightmare, especially when pressure washers are used to clean the sidewalks."

Power-washing the sidewalks has kept them clean, but is slowly eating away the grout.

Brennan said the businesses on Merchant Street put up with more than a year of construction work and to replace the tiles would mean another inconvenience.

The Downtown Neighborhood Board discussed the problem at its monthly meeting last week, but did not take a stand on the issue.

Chairwoman Lynne Matusow said the board could take a position once it finds out what, if anything, the city is planning to do.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.