State officials say the major project is the only way to address long-standing problems on the patchwork road, which in addition to the potholes is dotted with mini-lakes on the dirt shoulder anytime it rains.

Jason Terai, warehouse manager for Industrial Hardware Hawai'i at 701 Pu'uloa Road, said he will lose his driveway during construction, making it difficult for customers to find their way to the business.

"The road has been like this a long time already," Terai said. "Why improve it now? We don't need it. Nobody walks here. Nobody jogs here. It's so dark at night nobody is going to use this road. It's a waste of money, if you ask me."

State Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the growing traffic makes the project a necessity.

The work will include repairs to drainage, underground utility lines and street lighting, he said.

Pu'uloa Road from Nimitz Highway to Salt Lake Boulevard will be widened and for the first time have bicycle lanes, side walks, a center divider lane allowing drivers to turn outside the flow of traffic and designated left turn lanes at busy intersections.

At present, cars parked on the shoulder are frequently sideswiped by vehicles trying to avoid other cars stopped trying to turn left.

The final improvements will include resurfacing, restriping and landscaping. Work is expected to begin in mid-April if health department permits for night work are issued, and be completed in February 2007.

"There are a lot of pukas. It is pretty bad," Nataya said. "The sooner they do it the better. It will be worse a couple years from now if they don't fix it — like a black hole."

Kaimuki resident Paul Klink, a database and online marketing expert, visits his customers in the area and once hit a pothole and blew out a tire. He tried to get the state to compensate him for the cost but failed.

"I wasn't driving fast," he said. "It was a deep and wide pothole that was hidden at the time. The road condition is dangerous the way it is now, and that is the way it's been for years. If this is going to be a long-term solution, if this is 20- or 30-year solution for a two-year sacrifice, that's a good balance."

Angie Kellenberger, supervisor of sales at the stone product company Marmol HI, disagrees.

She said the construction and the widening will eliminate parking, which is the most critical need in the area. Vehicles of about 200 area workers and customers pack the roadside every day.

"Nothing outweighs parking," Kellenberger said. "Where are the employees going to park? Customers won't want to come here."

Kellenberger agreed that better drainage, lighting and turning lanes will make the road safer but said the time it will take and the cost are too high.

The project is being funded with 80 percent federal highway funds and 20 percent state money.

Construction was expected to begin about a year ago, but bids came in 23 percent higher than expected, so the department had to go back and request more state and federal money.

It was delayed a second time to allow resurfacing work on Moanalua Freeway to be completed. That is almost wrapped up, Ishikawa said.

"If we shut down the Moanalua Freeway and Pu'uloa Road at night, you're shutting down access to Moanalua and Salt Lake," he said. The department also was concerned about sufficient access to two area hospitals, Tripler Army Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente's Moanalua clinic.