Prompted by a hellacious traffic backup that stretched nearly to the H-1 Freeway off-ramp until the late hours on March 12, the contractor for the Fort Weaver Road widening project has agreed to place off-duty police officers at key intersections of 'Ewa Beach's main artery at peak morning and afternoon hours.

The presence of those officers, the rejiggering of the timing of traffic signals along Fort Weaver, and the recent opening of a third lane in both directions along the stretch between Laulaunui Drive and the 'A'awa Drive/Old Fort Weaver Road intersection, have helped to ease the notorious backup in the area that sometimes runs until well into the evening on weekdays.

"It's been like night and day," said Rep. Kymberly Pine, R-43rd ('Ewa Beach, Iroquois Point, Pu'uloa), of the improvements.

Seeing the backup as she got off the freeway on March 12, Pine did what many 'Ewa and 'Ewa Beach residents do.

"I turned around and went to Kapolei," Pine said of the detour that takes 'Ewa motorists four miles into the heart of Kapolei via H-1 or Farrington Highway, and then four miles back through the back road of Roosevelt Avenue.

The state Department of Transportation, which oversees Fort Weaver, asked contractor Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. to leave the special-duty officers in place a few hours after the end of daily construction activity beginning March 13 following the backup the day before that was blamed on a traffic light malfunction. Tammy Mori, DOT spokeswoman, said department crews also went out to record travel times during various periods of rush hour.

"Because we received so much feedback from having the officers on site throughout the evening, we asked the contractor to help support this service," she said.

The special-duty officers will continue to work key Fort Weaver intersections during afternoon peak hours "at least through the end of April, when we open up the new road through Renton Road, which will help with traffic flow a lot," Mori said.

The latest improvements don't assure a smooth drive in and out of Fort Weaver, however. Yesterday, for instance, a backup on the makai end of the road in the area of Papipi Road caused such a standstill that cars detoured on Roosevelt Avenue into Kapolei to get onto H-1 to drive east toward Honolulu. It's the same route Pine took, except in reverse.

The $60 million second phase of the Fort Weaver project widens its four lanes to six along the 2.6 miles just south of Laulaunui Drive and just beyond Geiger Road.

Originally scheduled to open by the end of February, the stretch between Laulaunui and the 'A'awa Drive/Old Fort Weaver Road intersection opened last week.

"There were some delays where crews were unable to pave because of inclement weather," Mori said. "We also ran into some electrical problems."

Crews just poured concrete for the deck of the Cane Haul Pedestrian Bridge, and railings are to be put up shortly, she said.

The next improvement motorists will see is the new turn lanes and revamped signalized intersection at the 'A'awa Drive/Old Fort Weaver Road intersection early next month, Mori said.

The better news is that once the new signalized intersections are operating, traffic managers will be able to control the systems from a remote location, Mori said. New traffic cameras will also be installed farther down Fort Weaver "so traffic can be better monitored and the public will be able to receive more accurate (and) timely information on traffic conditions."

In the next month, an additional lane will open on both sides from 'A'awa/Old Fort Weaver to the key intersection at Renton Road. The balance of the project is estimated to be done by late August, Mori said.

Area residents applauded the extended hours of the off-duty officers and said they can't wait for the entire project to end.

Shirley Aganad, 60, of Ocean Pointe, said both the expansion of Fort Weaver and the opening of the North-South Road, which will connect with Kapolei Parkway, should ease traffic somewhat.

She and her husband try to work their daily schedules around peak traffic hours, but it doesn't always work.

"You see it back up at odd times," Aganad said. "When you think you should be sailing you can't, and when it seems like you're supposed to be backed up, you're coming through."

Mel McKeague, 53, an 'Ewa Beach resident for more than three decades, said the changes will help but that it will be too little too late.

"The roads are obsolete before they're done," McKeague said. "They're overdeveloping the area. Homes are popping up here like mushrooms."