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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, June 7, 2007

BUREAUCRACY BUSTER
Repaving work set for Keolu

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Columnist

Q. When is Kailua's Keolu Drive roadway going to get some attention? There's been a lot of sewer construction, but much of the road is still pretty bad. When will there be roadwork and where? The sidewalks and curbs are getting work now. How long will that take and how much will it cost?

A. City road officials said help is on the way for this busy Windward road. The city has delayed much of the roadwork until completion of the extensive sewer projects to avoid fixing the road with one department, then having another department come along and dig up the new pavement a short time later.

City road maintenance chief Larry Leopardi said Keolu Drive is scheduled to be resurfaced by two contracts being administered by the Department of Design and Construction.

The more promising news is for the section of Keolu Drive from Akahai Street to Wana'ao Road, which will be resurfaced in conjunction with the Wana'ao Road/Keolu Drive Reconstructed Sewer Project. Construction bids for the project were opened in December. The other segment, Keolu Drive from Wana'ao Road to the Keolu Drive/Aka'aka'awa Street intersection and from Akahai Street to Kanapu'u Street, will be resurfaced as part of a street rehabilitation project.

Leopardi said his department will continue to patch potholes that emerge regularly. He said patching crews have gone out on recent Saturdays to fill holes with hot-mix asphalt.

Q. I live in the Enchanted Lake neighborhood of Kailua. I understand that there is a city easement alongside my property that gets very overgrown. The city kept it trimmed for years and then stopped. I paid someone to clean it but that cost $300. City crews have come to clean it twice in the past few years but that stopped. What is this easement? Why would the city stop cleaning it? What can I do?

A. Leopardi, who is a key official in the city's Department of Facility Maintenance, also supervises crews that keep the drainage ditches clear. Leopardi said land division officials told him that the parcel in question is privately owned, not a city easement. He said his Road Division crews previously trimmed the overgrowth to get access to the city's drainage easement in the rear of the properties, but have not needed to do that recently. It appears the homeowner is responsible for trimming any overgrowth on the parcel.

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