Kuhio Highway is the major route that passes through Kapa'a Town, and traffic congestion is a daily occurrence on the highway between Wailua and Kapa'a. This project involves widening Wailua Cane Haul Bridge to two lanes in the north-bound direction along Kuhio Highway. The bridge widening will include construction of a bike and pedestrian path that ties into the county's bike path system.

"Widening the bridge will help alleviate the traffic bottleneck in that area, particularly during the morning and afternoon rush hours," Lingle said. "This is an important project to keep Kaua'i residents and visitors moving through the area quickly and efficiently and is part of our effort to improve transportation statewide."

Last year, $165,000 was released for planning of the project. The newly released $201,000 will go toward completing the planning work, as well as for design work and land acquisition.

The bridge widening will be performed in coordination with another project to widen Kuhio Highway from the southern end of the Kapa'a Bypass Road to Kuamo'o Road. Once completed, the two projects will provide four lanes from the Bypass Road to the area just south of the Wailua River Cane Haul Bridge.