Posted on: Monday, July 4, 2005

Tunnel closings set to begin

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines a little earlier.

The state Transportation Department is asking Windward O'ahu motorists to allow extra time and consider alternate routes when they head to and from Honolulu starting tomorrow.

The extra time will be needed to compensate for the closing of the Kane'ohe-bound Wilson Tunnel along the Likelike Highway, DOT said.

The tunnel is being closed for 30 days to allow workers to tear out the nearly 50-year-old concrete floor and replace it with a new one, part of a $13.8 million tunnel-improvement project.

That means motorists going from Honolulu to Kane'ohe or Kailua will have to find alternate routes during most of the day.

The only exception will be from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., when DOT sets up a contraflow program on the highway that will allow homeward-bound commuters to go up the highway, cross into the opposite tunnel, and then get back on the Kane'ohe-bound lanes.

"I think people will just have to adjust a little," said Ron Knott, a Kailua resident. "They'll have to adjust their routes and adjust their temperaments when they run into extra traffic."

DOT officials hope that with the afternoon contraflow and the two other trans-Ko'olau routes available — Pali Highway and H-3 Freeway — the closings will cause minimal disruption.

After the Kane'ohe-bound tunnel work is complete, DOT crews will take a break in August. After Labor Day, however, the Honolulu-bound Wilson Tunnel will be closed for 30 days for similar work. A morning contraflow plan will be in effect during that closing to accommodate town-bound commuters.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.