The city administration wants to spend more money on road repairs in fiscal year 2009 than in each of the four previous years, proposing a road budget of $77 million to patch potholes, repave streets and put in safety improvements.

The funds sought are a 35 percent increase over the $49.75 million proposed for fiscal 2008. The administration proposed $44 million in spending in fiscal 2007, $30 million in 2006 and $40 million in 2005.

The roadwork is part of Mayor Mufi Hannemann's new city budget, which must be approved by the City Council.

The new projects would be on top of the $35.4 million in road repairs under way in areas including Downtown, Pearl City, Manoa and Kahala.

But despite the proposal for increased funding, some in the community said roads have been neglected for too long, and many remain in shoddy condition.

"Some of the potholes in my neighborhood, it's like a meteor from the sky made a hole in the ground. Some of the roads in my neighborhood have been allowed to fall apart," said Clifton H. Takamura, 53, who lives on Date Street. "Mufi Hannemann has a big job to do with all these roads, but with the money he has, I'm not sure he can finish. It's a huge job."

Officials said previous administrations and city councils have neglected to adequately maintain city roads. The neglect accumulated and led to costly damage that is now being addressed.

"The condition of our roads did not happen overnight, and they are not going to be fixed overnight," said Eugene Lee, director of the city Department of Design and Construction. "I would ask people to be patient. We're aware of the road situation, and it's an issue we work on every single day. I'm not saying we have great roads (but) it is a work in progress, and we're making good headway."

The city Department of Facility Maintenance routinely inspects all city-owned and maintained roadways to assess pavement condition.

Any roadway found to be in need of work is put up for contract rehabilitation, the city said. The city prioritizes which roads to fix based on the availability of money, the roadway's condition, possible conflicts with planned underground utility projects, and whether the city has classified the roadway as major or minor, based on traffic flow.

"With the funds provided each fiscal year, we program rehabilitation of major roadways, bus routes and arterial collector streets first," said Craig Nishimura, director of the city Department of Facility Maintenance. "Minor residential roadways will be programmed as additional funds become available."

After putting the project out to bid and awarding a contract for repairs, the road is either completely resurfaced, selectively repaired or overlaid with more asphalt.

Pothole patching is considered a temporary fix until the "underlying problem can be corrected," said Nishimura.

The city has patched 7,187 potholes so far this year compared with 80,334 potholes in 2007.

CLIMATE CONCERNS AND HEAVY TRAFFIC

Hawai'i's tropical climate wreaks havoc on roads, city officials say, with hot, dry weather followed by wet conditions.

Storm water that accumulates on and around roadways for prolonged periods degrades the pavement and the sub-grade, which starts to fail, creating potholes, sinking pavement and other road failures, the city said.

Other factors that take their toll on roads include heavy traffic and the fact that most roads are built to last 10 to 15 years.

Residents say whatever the reasons, roads are in need of repair.

J. Thomas Heinrich, 52, who has lived in Manoa since he was 3, said the years of neglect have done significant damage to the rain-soaked roadways. But he said the current administration is responsive to requests for repairs and has shown a willingness to address the issue.

"Personally, when I've put in for pothole requests in the last couple years, the response has been very quick. Due to budget aspects and weather aspects, maybe we have a chance to catch up a bit," said Heinrich.

Potholes, and the potential damage that running over one can cause, remain a primary concern in certain communities.

"Some of the potholes are pretty scary, and just in my neighborhood of Makiki. Some of the streets there I'm not sure they've received any maintenance in decades," said Philip C. Hauret, a member of the Makiki/Lower Punchbowl/Lower Tantalus Neighborhood Board.

"I think our roads are in pretty bad shape, and we wish the city would spend more time on it. Our (the city's) big emphasis recently has been on sewer line repair, and that's understandable, but we wish more was being spent on upkeeping roads."

In some areas, residents said, city repairs are not done consistently, nor do they feel they can keep up with Mother Nature.

"This has been a long time coming but it's (still being done) piecemeal," said Paula S. Kura-shige, 66, a physical therapist and chairwoman of the Nu'u-anu/Punchbowl Neighborhood Board. "You call (the pothole repair line) up and it gets done, but we have severe, severe rain here, and it continuously changes the pothole situation."

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.