What began more than a decade ago as a simple highway beautification dream has evolved into what state and city transportation officials believe is the model for how communities and government can work together more effectively.

Area residents had hoped back in 1998 for some way of improving conditions on Kamehameha Highway between 'Aiea and Pearl City — one of the busiest corridors in the state.

Now, nearly $9 million has been appropriated for the beginning of long- and short-term improvement projects in the works for years along the roadway. Construction is expected to start in April. Groundbreaking is being scheduled for late this month or early April, said Tammy Mori, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.

That work will include the installation of overhead traffic-monitoring cameras, pedestrian countdown walk signals, median fencing, and intersection improvements at Ka'ahumanu Street.

Subsequent projects will include modernized entryways connecting Kamehameha to Pearl Harbor historic sites; traffic signal phasing throughout the corridor; dedicated turning lanes at Acacia Road and Kuala Street, as well as Kuala Street and Waimano Home Road; and underground fiber optics connecting the highway to Honolulu's Downtown traffic control center.

Residents who live along the thoroughfare are enthusiastic because the community played a major role in the decision-making process.

"Kamehameha Highway had been neglected for years and years in terms of aesthetics, in terms of repair, and it has been treated as sort of an alternate route when the H-1 Freeway got clogged up," said William Clark, who sits on the 'Aiea Neighborhood Board, one of numerous community groups that became involved.

"The question was, is there something we can do to start making this highway what it was before — with some views, and something that's pleasing to look at for the people who live there, and better for the people who drive through it?"

COMMUNITY INPUT

Out of that premise grew the Kamehameha Highway Improvements Project and the promise of ending traffic and bureaucratic gridlock simultaneously.

Following numerous exploratory meetings between local neighborhood boards, by the year 2000, the beautification notion had evolved to include traffic flow and pedestrian-safety improvements as well. There were traffic signals to be upgraded and guard rails to be fixed, folks said. Left- and right-turn lanes could be extended to accommodate more traffic, and bridges, overhead signs and drainage systems could be fixed, upgraded and beautified, they said.

Innovation came in the way government responded to the need, Clark said.

"Instead of the planners coming out and saying, 'This is what we're going to do to the highway,' it was the other way around," he said. "The planners were coming out and saying, 'What would you like to have done with your highway?' "

The 'Aiea and Pearl City Neighborhood Boards held joint committee meetings. Other groups, including the 'Aiea and Pearl City community associations, followed suit. In time, the community partners included the U.S. Navy, the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites, The 'Aiea/Pearl City Business Association, the Aliamanu/Salt Lake Neighborhood Board and Pearlridge Center.

By 2005, things had kicked into high gear with the establishment of the Kamehameha Highway Improvements Task Force. Its mission was to identify short-term to long-range improvement plans that would make the road safer and enhance its aesthetics while maintaining its sense of place.

MODEL PROJECT

The task force not only included community organizations and the DOT, but also the Honolulu City and County Transportation Services.

"This project — the first of its kind in Hawai'i — is the result of long-range, consensus-based planning processes that involved entire communities," said Rep. K. Mark Takai, who co-chairs the Kamehameha Highway Improvements Task Force and has been a driving force behind the direction the project has taken.

The community-driven approach gives area residents a sense of ownership as well as a willingness to assist in its implementation, Takai said.

"It's actually a fairly comprehensive approach," added Brennon Morioka, director of the state Department of Transportation. The goal is to focus on low-cost, high-impact projects, he said.

More important, the Kamehameha projects initiative should pave the way for projects to come because it melds the wishes of communities with the technical expertise and funding ability of government.

"These projects were not driven by the DOT," Morioka said. "These were improvements that the community said they needed. Once we knew what the concerns were, then we developed the projects that would fit their concerns."

It's called Context Sensitive Solutions, or CSS, Morioka said. The Central O'ahu project is the first. But the department has now formally adopted CSS as policy. The 'Aiea/Pearl City projects have become the model for similar projects around O'ahu and the rest of the state, Morioka said.

"The Kamehameha Highway Improvements Projects is our first construction coming out of CSS," he said.

But he said the idea is the wave of the future.