The holiday reprieve from 24-hour lane closures and construction along Kapi'olani Boulevard will end Sunday.

But the end of the two-year sewer and water-line replacement project along the busy thoroughfare is in sight: Officials say work will wrap up by late summer as scheduled.

That's good news to scores of commuters and Kapi'olani businesses that have had to contend with multiple lane closures, a ban on left turns in sections and an abbreviated contraflow schedule since work started in September 2006. The $32 million project stretches from Ward Avenue to Kalakaua Avenue on Kapi'olani.

When work resumes Sunday, crews will be between Kaheka and Ke'eaumoku streets. One lane in each direction will once again be closed for 24 hours, and weekday afternoon contraflows will be canceled.

The morning contraflow will end at McCully Street.

Businesses along Kapi'olani say the roadwork has scared off many customers. The holiday work stoppage, which started on Thanksgiving, was partly aimed at giving business owners a chance to recoup some of their losses.

But Craig Inouye, a co-owner of the Quicksilver Boardriders Club across the street from the convention center on Kapi'olani Boulevard, said it will take more to get customers back.

"It's (the work has) trained the consumer to avoid the area, knowing it's all a mish-mash of potholes and pukas," he said. "It's a matter of grin and bear it."

Inouye said that during the course of the Kapi'olani project, sales at his store have dipped by up to 25 percent. This holiday season, he saw an increase in sales, but revenues weren't as good as in years past, he said.

"It was a fair holiday season," Inouye said.

This is the second time commuters and businesses along Kapi'olani Boulevard have had to contend with a spate of lane closures and traffic back-ups.

In 2004, the city kicked off a four-month project to repair segments of the same sewer line under Kapi'olani.

The current project replaces a 12-inch water main installed in 1935, and repairs the 84-year-old, 36-inch sewer pipeline. Crews are also installing new manholes and making sidewalks wheelchair-accessible.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.