A state project to reinforce and stabilize the rocky hillside along Ka-laniana'ole Highway at Makapu'u will be a major inconvenience for residents heading in and out of Waimänalo, but the plan to partially close the highway for about a year during the work will have a greater impact on Waimänalo businesses, already struggling to survive.

Construction on the $7.8 million project is to begin Nov. 29 and be completed in late 2010. The work will mean single-lane closures of the highway near Makapu'u during the day and full closure overnight.

That will mean people heading from Windward O'ahu to Hawai'i Kai and Downtown Honolulu will have to use Pali Highway. The same will be true for people going to Windward O'ahu from town, and that has many business owners concerned because their livelihood depends on the north-bound traffic, which includes many tourists.

Business operators acknowledged that the work is needed because of the risk of falling rocks, but they said the poor economy continues to hurt, and the lane closures could be the final blow to their survival.

"The road closing at night might be the nail in the coffin for many businesses in Waimänalo," said Keith Ward, owner of Keneke's, a plate lunch and catering business in Waimänalo for 26 years.

Ward said many eateries in the community have suffered because of an influx of lunchwagons and other vendors in town over the past four years. He said most of these vendors are operating illegally and are taking customers away from legitimate businesses.

That, along with the highway work, will make it very difficult to get by, he said. Ward said he plans to lay off two or three workers after Thanksgiving, leaving his business with just two employees.

"If I have to go down to myself and one employee to make it for a year, that's what it will be," Ward said. "I'll have one employee and myself, and we'll do it."

Ward said he knows how tough things can get when the road around Makapu'u is closed for any length of time. In late 2002, the highway was closed for three weeks while wire mesh to trap falling rocks was installed. For five months after that, there was intermittent contra-flow traffic throughout the day while the work was completed.

BUSINESS FALLS OFF

The upcoming project will take nearly twice as long to complete. Ward said businesses will see a dramatic drop in customers coming from Sandy Beach and as far away as Waikíkí.

"That road closure is going to hurt us big, local-businesswise and also tourist-wise, because what's going to happen is the tourists in Waikíkí are going to hear rumors about how long the wait was coming around this side of the island and they're not going to come," Ward said.

Transportation officials acknowledge that the construction will have an impact on the community, but said the work must be done.

"We realize this is a major corridor for Windward and Hawai'i Kai residents and that is why we want to give the public as much advance notice as possible," said Brennon Morioka, Department of Transportation director. "But this short-term inconvenience will help ensure long-term reliability of the road, and the community will be able to take comfort knowing that the road will be safe for a long time to come."

The work on the highway will include the construction of a rockfall impact barrier, slope stabilization , pavement reconstruction, and installation of electrical cables and conduits. The project is expected to be completed by the end of next year, the DOT said.

Wilson Kekoa Ho, chairman of the Waimänalo Neighborhood Board, said he fears that many businesses may not make it to the end of the construction period.

"It's going to be hard. The traffic will be tough, closing at night is going to be hard. It's going to be trying on people," Ho said. "But you cannot say anything because if it falls down tomorrow, then they will say, 'It's your fault because you pushed it back.' We want what's best for the community, and all of the businesses acknowledge they will be suffering."

MEETING PLANNED

The DOT appeared at Monday's Waimänalo Neigh-borhood Board meeting to discuss the plan, but Ho said the community wasn't satisfied with the presentation and asked that another meeting be held. A town meeting has been set for 7 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the National Guard Training Auditorium.

Chris Bowles is the manager of Sweet Home Waimänalo, a smoked-barbecue restaurant that opened in April. He said business has been pretty brisk, but he's concerned that the road closure will hurt because 40 to 50 percent of the restaurant's business comes from tourists.

"People come to Waimänalo because of our beach. If they gotta come around from the other side, we're going to be losing a lot of tourists," Bowles said. "That's a pretty big detour they'd have to make to get to this side."

The Waimänalo resident said he knows firsthand about the inconvenience of a road closure. He said he quit his job in Hawai'i Kai during the 2002 closure because it was "too expensive to make that kind of commute just to get to Hawai'i Kai."

Naturally Hawaiian Gallery and Gifts has been in Waimänalo for 15 years and features artwork by owner Patrick Ching. The business survived the tourism slump after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the road closures a year later, and the store's manager believes the business will still be around a year from now.

Store manager Jerod Olson estimated that about 70 percent of his business comes from tourists.

"Most of the tourists are coming from town, so they're coming from the Hawai'i Kai side. So it will definitely put a damper on businesses," Olson said. "All of the businesses are already struggling with the economy, but (the work) is a necessary evil. I don't want the road to break away and have an injury, but it seems like they could figure out a way to at least keep it open at least half a day so we can get the tourists coming through."

Olson said the shop doesn't do much advertising and relies on word of mouth to attract its customers. Ironically, he said, all the talk of a traffic nightmare could have a negative impact on business.

"It's more world of mouth and past customers that come back. Once word gets out that the road is closed, word of mouth then can be a bad thing as well," Olson said.

Work set to begin at Makapu'u this month is the third substantial project in seven years.