Windward residents moved a step closer to getting a new driver licensing office now that the city has hired a contractor to set up the office in Koolau Center, formerly known as Temple Valley Shopping Center.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann said that Stan's Contracting bid $96,700 to create the office to replace the one that closed in 2004 at the Kane'ohe police station. The city expects the office to be complete by year's end.

The city also announced yesterday that the three mall satellite city hall offices will close earlier on Wednesday nights. From February through May the satellites at Ala Moana, Pearlridge and Windward malls were staying open until 9 p.m. but remained quiet in the last two hours of the evening.

City customer services director Jeff Coelho said a survey shows that 83 percent of the walk-in customers came in before 7 p.m. Shifting the hours will allow the city to move staff to help with the busiest times, he said.

The same contractor also will renovate the Pearlridge Center satellite city hall at a cost of $154,700. Coelho said the renovation will allow customers to stand in one line for both their business transaction and paying.

The Pearlridge renovation will require closing that office for up to two months, but Coelho said it might be closed for two weeks at a time. He said the construction schedule can be challenging because the contractor is restricted to certain kinds of work while the mall is open.

The new Windward center will go into a now-vacant space next to Times Super Market, a 3,000-square-foot site that will lease for $3,068 a month. Hannemann said it will become the sixth location on O'ahu where people can sign up for road tests.

For Windward residents, the closest offices for road tests for driver licensing now are in Kalihi and Pearl City.

Coelho said the Pearlridge renovation also will allow customers to get driver's license duplicates and renew their licenses, which they can't do now at that office.

Coelho said the city now has placed all forms for the satellite city halls and motor vehicle licensing online — at www .honolulu.gov/csd/satellite/forms .htm — so they can be printed and filled out ahead of time.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.