KAPOLEI — Three traffic signals to be installed at three intersections along Kamokila Boulevard, the main street through the heart of Kapolei, are expected to provide a much-needed safety measure for motorists and pedestrians traveling in the growing area.

Kapolei Property Development will begin installing two of the signals — at Manawai and Ulu'ohia streets — in August and plans to have them operational by the end of the year, said Theresia McMurdo, Kapolei Property vice president for public affairs.

A third traffic light, at Kamokila Boulevard and Wakea Street, will go in when the $6 million Kapolei interchange, which will connect with Kamokila at Wakea, is completed late next year.

Along with the signals, crews also will create left-turn lanes from Kamokila heading makai onto Manawai, Ulu'ohia and Wakea. The signalized intersections will cost about $250,000 each and are required under the government approvals received by Kapolei Property and its predecessor, the Estate of James Campbell.

Recognizing the growing traffic in the region, the company would have liked to put the traffic signals in earlier, McMurdo said. But first, a study must be done showing a strong need for improved safety measures at an intersection before a signalized intersection can be installed, and the OK was not given for the three signals until earlier this year.

"What triggers (the need for signals at Manawai and Ulu'ohia) is the opening of Manawai and Kama'aha, which leads to more traffic on those intersections, and the (extension of) Haumea Street," McMurdo said.

Haumea was extended two blocks from Wakea to Ulu'ohia in April, and that's when approval for the two traffic signals was given, she said.

The signals are in the middle of the design phase and parts are expected to arrive from Louisiana by August, McMurdo said.

Kapolei police Maj. Michael Moses said the signalized intersections can't come soon enough, noting that he's witnessed at least two accidents from his office at the Kapolei police substation.

Traffic has increased significantly since Kama'aha Street between Fort Barrette Road and Manawai Street was opened to vehicular traffic last September, Moses said. The opening allowed cars traveling between 'Ewa and the western end of Kapolei to bypass the busy commercial core on Kamokila, he said.

The new signals will be a plus for pedestrians trying to cross Kamokila. "It's kind of a wide highway, a divided highway" Moses said. "It can be a little tricky for pedestrians. And because it's a four-way stop, drivers are concentrating on getting an opening and not watching the pedestrians stepping off the curb."

Moses said all three traffic signals also will help slow down speeders along Kamokila. "A lot of people don't realize it's only a 25 mph zone," he said.

Despite some traffic enforcement actions on Kamokila, "It's not uncommon to see people going 40 or 50 miles an hour down that street," Moses said.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.