A morning repaving project on Pali Highway near Waokanaka Street caused traffic slowdowns into the afternoon yesterday as the state finished repaving sections of the Honolulu town-bound lane.

The weeklong project is completed, but work will begin today on the Kailua-bound lanes near the hairpin turn after leaving the Pali Tunnels.

Yesterday's jam left Mike Kelso, a Kailua architect, frustrated and critical of the project's management. A few simple changes could have allowed motorists to move easily through the valley, said Kelso, who ran into stalled traffic near Nu'uanu Pali Drive. Nearly two miles of highway were coned and reduced to one lane, but there was no activity in the closed lane and no apparent need to shut it down, Kelso said.

Kelso said he left home at 8:30 a.m. to take his daughter to school, knowing about the construction and figuring that one hour was enough time to get her there by 9:30 a.m. But he was still in Nu'uanu at that time.

"There's a light at the bottom and it's like a dam and the water is piling up there and there's no work being done," he said, adding that he was dumbfounded when he realized the upper valley lane had been cordoned off but the equipment was far below. Even if the state needed the lane, it could have made better use of the existing highway, he said.

"They could make three lanes easy on the Pali road for a few extra cones," Kelso said. A police officer at the Waokanaka light would have relieved the backup on the highway, he added.

The state Department of Transportation was aware of the problem as complaints came in, said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman. The project had been scheduled for the whole week, and yesterday was the first time there were problems, Ishikawa said, adding that the department will be looking into changes that could improve the situation next time.

The long lane closure leading up to the project is done for safety reasons and to get the traffic to slow down before reaching the construction site, he said.

"We've been trying to avoid night work as much as possible for safety reasons, particularly in areas where there's no traffic lights that can slow the drivers down," Ishikawa said, adding that night work usually requires closing both lanes, also for safety reasons.

The state was resurfacing a patch of road about a half-mile above Waokanaka, he said. The spot had generated a lot of complaints when the asphalt apparently sloughed off on a 300-foot stretch of highway, Ishikawa said.

"We apologize for the inconvenience for the drivers (yesterday), but we really had to fix that left lane," he said.

Similar repaving work will be done today from 8:30 a.m to 3 p.m. near St. Stephens Diocesan Center. A single lane will be closed on the Pali Highway in the Kailua-bound direction, and motorists should use caution and plan for extra travel time, Ishikawa said.

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.