Rainy weather and construction problems have combined to delay completion of the much-anticipated H-1 Freeway widening project in Waimalu, meaning thousands of 'ewa-bound Leeward and Central O'ahu commuters likely will face roughly two extra months of traffic bottlenecks.

The $55 million project was scheduled for completion next month, but now the state Department of Transportation estimates the new lane in the westbound direction won't be open until late June, weather permitting.

If the weather cooperates, a spokesman for project contractor Kiewit Pacific Co. said he anticipates the road work will be done by early May. But additional testing is expected to push the opening into June, the state said.

Homeowners who live closest to the construction zone have another project-related headache to contend with: nighttime noise.

For the past two to three weeks, residents say, the almost nightly construction racket has been so loud they have trouble sleeping or watching television in their homes.

While apologizing for the noise, the state says the concrete-grading that is causing it probably will continue until late April or early May. A DOT spokesman later said the state intends to work with the contractor to try to dramatically shorten that period.

NOISY AT NIGHT

The prospect of having to deal with the noise for another month or so angered area residents.

"I think that's disgusting," said Ardis Shimokawa, whose home is below the elevated portion of the freeway where the concrete-blasting lasts into the early-morning hours. "You can't even watch TV in my living room."

A Kiewit Pacific spokesman said the work that is causing the noise — the blasting away of a concrete surface by a machine that shoots metal pellets at it — should be done by early April.

The procedure is being done at night so the contractor is able to work longer hours with the least impact on traffic, DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said.

But state Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), whose district includes the freeway project and who has received complaints from constituents about the noise, said another month-plus of nighttime racket would be unfair to them.

He has asked the DOT to consider shifting the work to the day, an option that Ishikawa said isn't feasible because of the traffic problems that would cause.

"The residents of Waimalu Valley have endured tremendous inconveniences already," said Takai. "To now tell them that this (the noise) may continue almost every night for another month — that's absolutely unacceptable."

Takai also was skeptical about the main reason the state was citing for the delay in the project, which originally was to be completed in January of this year, then April.

FIXING DRAINAGE

The latest explanation "just doesn't make sense," Takai said.

Ishikawa said the main reason for the delay is the wet weather, which has prevented pouring of concrete for parts of the project.

"You lose a day, you've got to make it up somewhere," he said.

About two weeks of the expected delay is due to work that has to be redone on 11 large concrete drain catchments that were installed along the outer edge of the freeway, Ishikawa said.

The state has required the contractor to dig up the drain inlets and have the work redone because not enough steel was used in the construction, according to Ishikawa.

A Kiewit Pacific spokesman said some inlets provided by a supplier need to be replaced, but that shouldn't affect the scheduled freeway opening at all.

The state says it will discuss with the contractor who will pay for the extra drainage work. But the contractor's spokesman said the state won't have to cover that expense, given that some inlets were faulty and needed replacing.

The concrete grading is being done on an existing lane along the roughly 1,400-foot length of the viaduct to remove an inch of the surface so crews can replace it with four different kinds of concrete surfaces, according to Ishikawa.

Once those are installed, the state will test the four surfaces for a month to determine which works best, then open the project to general traffic, he said.

All four surfaces are expected to do the job, but the state wants to determine the best one for future concrete repavings, such as on the H-1 airport viaduct, Ishikawa said.

Takai said he can understand the weather accounting for a few weeks of delay, but that the drain problems and "the digging up of existing concrete" likely are the main reasons the project is being pushed into June.

James Toma, an environmental health specialist with the state Department of Health, said he went to the Waimalu neighborhood just before midnight about two weeks ago to investigate a noise complaint from a resident there.

Toma stayed about an hour and took decibel readings from the resident's yard while the blasting was being done on the viaduct. He said the noise levels from the blasting were comparable to levels during a normal conversation.

"It wasn't that bad," he said.

But the resident told Toma that other nights were much worse.

Shimokawa said the noise can get loud enough that she has to go into the back bedroom of her home — the farthest room from the freeway — to watch television.

Even if the noise is curtailed, Shimokawa is skeptical that the project, now twice delayed, will finish when the state says it will.

"I have a hunch it will extend beyond June," she said.

Reach Rob Perez at rperez@honoluluadvertiser.com.