The collision damaged the vertical support beam of the overpass and the horizontal portion that stretches across the H-1 and may require officials to dismantle the makai side as well, said Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

"Strands of cable are the actual strength of the structure and some are already snapped," Ishikawa said. "After we demolish the mauka half, we'll have to make an assessment of the makai side. They're actually two separate structures connected by an expansion joint in the middle."

Transportation officials will close all six 'ewa-bound lanes at least through tomorrow's rush hour and will not open the normal town-bound zipper lane or the lane closest to the middle of the overpass.

The result will be only five lanes of town-bound traffic instead of the normal seven, Ishikawa said.

"Leave early and be patient," Ishikawa said. "When people get inpatient, that's when we get more accidents."

Sherrie Menor, a Mililani accountant for a telecommunications company, flew in from Las Vegas this afternoon with her husband, Nestor, and planned to take a taxi ride to her in-laws in Waipahu.

The Menors had taken the same taxi ride recently at a cost of $40 — plus tip.

But after more than 2 1/2 hours in the taxi on the H-1, the meter already stood at $86 and the Menors were not even to the Ice Palace.

"It ain't working," Sherrie Menor said. "Thanks to that crane hitting the overpass, we're still here. (The fare) will probably be triple now."

The damaged occurred at about 1:45 p.m. today when a large crane being towed on a trailer behind a military truck rammed through the nearly 17-foot tall pedestrian walkway, Ishikawa said.

Transportation officials today had no immediate cost of the damage.

Advertiser staff writers Mike Leidemann and Curtis Lum contributed to this report.

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:34 pm HST]
blah blah blah...traffic this traffic that.wow. nothing new in paradise. Get over it. We look forward to a new day. Good night and God Bless.
Mike
Ewa Beach

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:32 pm HST]
Sorry the driver didn't check the height route restrictions on our roadways. If the military is at fault, they have plenty enough to worry about with our troops deployed. Two hours of inconvenience in paradise isn't too bad, call your kids and parents and tell them you love them....
Larry Lee
Waialua

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:32 pm HST]
I heard the news on the radio before I picked my son up from school in town. The freeway was jam-packed like a parking lot--everything was solid and nothing moved. We decided to chance it and go up the Likelike and down the H-3 at about 4 p.m. We got home at about 6 p.m. I just got a call at 7:15 p.m. from a friend in town. She said they could see the freeway all backed up. She is going to have dinner and maybe even listen to some jazz. I told her it was a good idea since they'd probably end up sitting in traffic. I wished her good luck for her journey home. My husband left work at Pearl Harbor at about 7 p.m. and we told him to get dinner first and hoped he wouldn't get home too late.
G-9
Aiea

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:32 pm HST]
I work in town near Honolulu Community College. I got off work at 3:30pm. I didn't get home until 7pm. This is the longest I've ever been stuck in traffic.
Trisha
Pearl City

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:25 pm HST]
Problem is the city officials, and it's not the highway infrastructure per se, but rather the idiots that put together the LAND USE ORDINANCE. Anyone ever wonder why so many homes in town are falling to pieces and the owners don't seem to want to spend any money to fix them up? Well, for one it takes MONTHS to even get a permit to fix something. If you want to rebuild a new building, you have to make it much smaller because the new setbacks and building codes require your 3,000 sq ft home in TOWN to be only 2,000 sq ft. I am trying to build a multifamily property in DOWNTOWN and it's zoned APARTMENT, yet I am allowed a similar living space (to Hawaii Kai) in a HIGH DENSITY area??? Idiots I tell you. Blame the city for pushing everyone in town out to the burbs and @#$!ing up traffic.
Scott
Downtown

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:23 pm HST]
left work at 5:15; got home by 5:20... good thing i live in town!!!
honu
honolulu

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:19 pm HST]
James, Your wife should've known about the traffic situation around 2:30 Pm like the rest of the people. She should've gone around north shore and would've been home by now. Also, they should make the driver of the truck pay for all the cost of demolishing the bridge and repairs. That will make him think twice next time.
Luis gonzalez
Ewa Beach

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:15 pm HST]
My wife left Kaneohe at 5pm via H3 and has been trying to get back to Mililani and she hasn't even gotten to Pearlridge and it's 7:30pm. I estimate she'll get back to Mililani around 8:30 or 9pm.
James
Mililani

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:13 pm HST]
I suggest that everyone stay home with their family and boycot work tomorow. Nobody go to work for the city and county, government office. That will open the brains of the leaders that don't do enough to prevent these jams. Boycot work tomorow for city and county. stay with your kids and family. have nice day.
Luis Gonzalez
Ewa Beach

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:11 pm HST]
We left the Downtown area at 3:52 p.m. and got home to Aiea at 6:02 p.m. I thought 2 hours and 10 minutes was bad! However, after reading everyone's comments, maybe that was pretty good. We took the scenic route on the Likelike, then the H-3, then Pearl Harbor, then past Radford High and up Halawa Hts. Then we headed down Halawa Hts. and went on Ulune to our home on Aiea Hts. I hope we don't have to do this tomorrow!
Dakota's Mom
Aiea

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:05 pm HST]
Why are people blaming the politicians? Why aren't more people blaming the actual cause of the accident, the driver? I realize that there aren't many alternatives for those headed westbound, but who would be willing to give up their property so that another means of transportation can be built? Where are the politicians going to put another road? For all those people that think that the rail mass transit would help, imagine all the people that would be waiting at the various depots along the way and the limited amount of passengers that could be transported. Would it really be more efficient than the current situation?
Kent
Kalihi

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:05 pm HST]
I work in Makiki and live in Kahala and it took me one extra hour to get home because before I could leave I had to listen politely to my boss and co-workers complain about how bad traffice would be for ONE WHOLE HOUR!!! THIS IS HORRIBLE!!! Something must be done about all these westside people. EASTSIDE!!!1!!
gwen
Kahala

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:01 pm HST]
The \"alternative route\" that needs to be implemented is one that does not rely on our roadways for transit such as an elevated sky train or rail system. It\'s not about being or not being thankful for what we have. It\'s about improving on the situation at hand, which currently isn\'t a great one.
Travis
Honolulu

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:01 pm HST]
Left Kaiser Permanente Moanalua at 3:30. Got home in Aiea at 5:30. What is normally a 5-10 minute commute took 2 hours!!!!! Took me an hour just to get past the Panasonic building in Halawa. There were times when I even put my car on park.
Emmie
Aiea

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 7:01 pm HST]
the person driving the truck should walk to work the rest of the year.
da aiean
aiea

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:59 pm HST]
Just plain stupid. Who gave that guy a license??? Traffic will always be problem because the DOT is always aoubt 10 years behind the problem. Everytime there is a lane expansion or new road etc...it never really amounts to anything because it's too late.
Kim
Ewa Beach

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:53 pm HST]
left downtown at about 3:35, made it home to pearl city at about 6:30 by taking the backroads......3 long hours on my butt pressing mostly the "brake" lever......man it feels sooo good to be home....
JORDAN B
PEARL CITY

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:50 pm HST]
what kind of alternative route are the "politicians" supposed to come up with. Oahu is just an island. You can only build so much. The more 'opala you build (while wasting our monies) the more the island going sink. Appreciate the highways, transportations, etc. Lucky we get that in the first place. I mean...we could be still walking like they did in the olden days...or ride bike for that matter. People need to start appreciating & be thankful for what we have. Thank you & have a nice day.
Pua
makiki

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:48 pm HST]
I am still shaking my head & swearing about the accident & the traffic. I knew something was wrong when a bunch of my friends called my cell to tell me to stay in town because the cars were not moving & it was a parking lot. My boyfriend called me from Ewa and said it looked like a ghost town-there were no cars on the roads in Waipahu & Ewa. How can the driver be so STUPID. Maybe we should take away his/her CDL license...additionally for punishment for his/her stupidity --- have him/her pick up all the opala along the freeway. S/he should pick up the opala for the distance that the traffic was backed up (or at least as least pick up opala/clean up the graffiti on the freeways for as many hours as people were stuck in traffic. AUWE!
stacy
Ewa Beach/West Loch

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:48 pm HST]
what tim from ward said.
anonymous
hawaii kai

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:42 pm HST]
I pass the truck and crane as it sat on the side of the freeway @ 1;40PM. It had already hit a few overhead lights and a overhead freeway sign. I drove over the broke glass and had to go around a fire truck that was adresing the broken overhead sign. I thought good thing the driver finally stopped, no way he was going to make it under the freeway over passes. WHY DID THIS TRUCK GET BACK ON THE FREEWAY AND CONTINUE WESTBOUND. I saw this truck with crane before it hit the overpass. The diver was stamding outside his rig. Media needs to find out why he got back on the freeway.
gold
Mililani

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:41 pm HST]
must be that "hawaiian sense of place" politicians are always yacking about. hawaii is such a unique place: rush hour traffic, big jams, noise. auto pollution, houses becoming the new cash crop.
robert
hawaii kai

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:39 pm HST]
I don't know what they are talking about...I left downtown at 3:00p.m. and was in Waikele by 5:00p.m. Traffic crawled until we were diverted off the Moanalua Freeway to Moanalua Road - it was a little slow from there, but not much worse than the normal rush hour commute. It was tiring, but I think the city traffic control people did an awesome job, given the circumstances.
commuter
Waikele

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:38 pm HST]
Politicians? Why do the politicians have anything to do with this? Somehow a crane ramming into a ped overpass is the politicians fault. Get over it West Oahu residents. You knew traffic was bad when you moved out there. It's ALWAYS been bad. Don't expect anyone to do anything about it. Complaining about it is like me buying a house next to a sewage plant and telling them to move the plant because it stinks in my backyard.
tim
ward

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:33 pm HST]
I still say that they should build an alternate route. The most logical would be to build an underwater tunnel from someplace around Ewa to downtown. This is nothing new seeing that they already have many build around the world. It would also probably cost no more that the train they are planning to put in and it won't cause the traffic problems that the train will bring during the years of construction.
Tired of this
Mililani

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:31 pm HST]
I passed the accident scene when I had to pick up my son in waipahu about 3 mins after the incident. Someone is going to have remedial training on how to properly stow away your carry- on payload and other proper procedures. Second time I saw this in my lifetime. Good thing I got swing shift today hear at Pearl Harbor. By the way the truck came from on base and took out the signs here as well.
Classified ( Need to know basis)
Waipahu

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:27 pm HST]
wow, what a bunch of cry babies! Boo hoo! I am stuck in traffic! Why doesn't the govenment do something about it?! And I have to pee! Its an accident. Stuff happens, get over it. Pull over and take a leak if its that bad.
smoke grenade
hawaii

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:21 pm HST]
My Grandson left the Alapai transit at 2:30. It is almost 6:30 and he is stuck on the bus near the stadium area. Auwe. he has to shishi and he is hungry!! Then he will hit traffic trying to get into Nanakuli! The politicians need to do something NOW!
Gramma Judy
Nanakuli Homestead

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:17 pm HST]
I work at a church near Kaiser Hospital, and left around 3:30 to go get something to eat. I got stuck in traffic as soon as I got onto the Freeway. Took me two hours just to get on and through the Halawa off-ramp, which is less than a quarter mile from where I got onto the freeway...
Gavin Terukina
Mililani

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:09 pm HST]
Took me 14 hours from downtown.
Mighty Whitey
Mililani

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:07 pm HST]
my husband left work at 3:30 p.m. from Pier 41 as of 6:08 he is still stuck in traffic!
mel
aiea

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:57 pm HST]
What normally takes me 15 min. to get home from Downtown, took me nearly an hour. No, I'm not grumbling just sharing my experience.
C.E.
Salt Lake

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:56 pm HST]
I work on Hickam as a contractor and live right next to Pearl Ridge mall. It took me 2 and a half hours. Complete madness. My feet hurt. I am going to sue.
John
Aiea

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:54 pm HST]
I'm glad I don't work in town anymore. I feel sorry for the people who are low on fuel or have to use the restroom!
Ace
Central Oahu

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:51 pm HST]
This is the kind of days where I go uncle's house townside and just cruise with my cousins. Or I take the next exit and eat at zippy's and or watch a movie, depending how severe the situation is. Poor thing though the kids waiting for their mom them to come home. Das why hard live and work on the opposite sides of the island. Always get the potential for this for happen.
Edward
Ewa Beach

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:51 pm HST]
Good to live in Town, especially today. Took 10 mins to get home. lol
Ivy
Downtown

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:48 pm HST]
looks like a nice chance to view the sunset from Hauula! love hawaii or leave
tb
mililani

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:47 pm HST]
5 hours. Never again I'm going to walk home.
Honey Girl
Waianae

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:44 pm HST]
Two words to solve any traffic jam - MASS TRANSIT!
aloha joe
waianae

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:41 pm HST]
Das why hard.
AMD X2 OC_forums.
Nanakuli

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:39 pm HST]
stuck 4 hours, route = does it matter.
stuck
makaha

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:35 pm HST]
just another in paradise.
bu la ia
waianae

[Posted on September 5, 2006 at 5:31 pm HST]
this is why we need alternate ways to get back to the west side when something like this happens we are able to go around and when i mean around not around the island. the transit system would have been a great day. now i have no choice to depend on others to pick up my kids and make sure they get home and get fed and to bed on time so that it does not interrupt their schedule as well. Politicians need to stop acting like they are doing something for us and get down to business. I'm so tired of paying there wages when nothing is getting done. **** get the rail going ****
Valerie Ramos
Royal Kunia