Q. Why is a "pristine" section of H-3 Freeway being repaved from Kamehameha Highway to Marine Corps Base-Hawai'i (in both directions) when other arteries such as Pali Highway are so badly in need of pothole repair work?

A. Apparently that stretch wasn't in as good shape as you thought, said state Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

"If you've driven H-3 recently, certain asphalt sections were starting to unravel because of the constant rainy weather on the Windward side, particularly at the H-3 Halekou Interchange, which connects with Kamehameha Highway in Kane'ohe," he said.

The state received complaints, especially about a pothole that was about 3 feet long that was past the point of patching.

Ishikawa said work also was done to shore up and level off H-3's Mokapu Boulevard off-ramp, which appeared to be slightly tilting and could have become a safety issue. And several sections of the Honolulu-bound lanes near the quarry also needed resurfacing.

The H-3 repaving project is called "pavement preservation," where the top 2 inches of pavement is replaced so it doesn't reach a point where the water and wear-and-tear damage the road foundation underneath. Letting the roads deteriorate to that point would mean more costly resurfacing work or total reconstruction of the road.

Ishikawa said the department does try to tackle really rough roads such as Nimitz Highway, which was recently repaved, and Ala Moana boulevard, where repaving is scheduled to begin in May or June.

But both the state and city have been adopting a newer nationwide philosophy that includes taking better care of newer roads so they don't end up in such bad condition.

Grace Pacific is the contractor for the $4.3 million H-3 repaving project from Halekou Interchange to the Marine Corps base. The repaving is only for the asphalt sections of the H-3 on the Kane'ohe side of the tunnels and scheduled to end in May.

Q. What about Pali Highway?

A. Ishikawa said his department is awaiting approval by the Legislature for a budget request that would allow DOT to repave the rough sections of the Pali, particularly in the Kailua-bound tunnel, and a half-mile above the intersection of Pali and Waokanaka Street, Honolulu-bound.

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