Another Saturday, another mammoth test of patience for West O'ahu residents.

Recall: It was two weeks ago yesterday that an Aloha Petroleum tanker spilled some 2,500 gallons of gasoline onto H-1 Freeway near 'Ewa — and the subsequent lane closures resulted in a massive traffic snarl stretching all the way to Nana- kuli that took nearly 10 hours to unknot.

The troubles were twofold yesterday as another, much smaller gasoline spill on Fort Weaver Road forced the closure of town-bound lanes and a power outage left an estimated 25 businesses in the Kapolei Parkway area to manage in the dark for six prime-time shopping hours.

Slow-motion Saturday began shortly after 9 a.m. when a private construction company truck spilled approximately 10 gallons of fuel onto Fort Weaver Road near Hawaii Medical Center-West.

Honolulu police officers closed one lane of the road for about three hours to allow a cleanup crew from the construction company to remove contaminated soil and retrieve any fuel that may have gone down a nearby storm drain.

The lane closure retarded the already slow-moving town-bound traffic on the road, leading to backups that lingered into midafternoon.

Roseanne Ishihiro, 52, of 'Ewa, was trying to get from her home at the Sun Tierra complex to a volleyball match at Farrington High School when she realized she had made a big mistake heading out on Fort Weaver.

Pressed for time, she turned around, backtracking to Kapolei via Geiger Road to get on H-1.

It took her 45 minutes just to get to the on-ramp.

"My husband was following me in another car," Ishihiro said. "He just turned around and went home."

For Lori and Jason Reilly of Waipi'o, a missed turn was a stroke of luck.

"By accident, we took the wrong exit and ended up on Farrington Highway," Lori Reilly said. "It was the best thing we could have done."

By taking the wrong exit, the two missed the Fort Weaver Road mess, which they said was moving very slowly before 1 p.m.

Instead of enduring bumper-to-bumper traffic, the couple, along with their two children, Angel, 2, and "Little Jason," 4, breezed to Kapolei to check out Target.

"Actually, I work at Target at Salt Lake," said Lori Reilly, who was amazed at how much business the Kapolei Target was doing even in a blackout.

Just 15 minutes after the spill occurred, an equipment problem caused a power failure at Kapolei Parkway, complicating what was already expected to be a busy day at the Kapolei Commons shopping center.

The problem was traced to a cable fault, according to Hawaiian Electric Co. spokeswoman Sharon Higa.

The traffic snarl on Fort Weaver slowed the HECO repair crew's arrival at the scene and power was not restored until just before 3 p.m.

Among the businesses affected by the outage was the newly opened Target store.

Store manager Jon Radtke said there was 15 seconds of total darkness before an emergency generator system kicked in. And then it was shopping as usual, only slightly darker, as the store welcomed the expected crush of weekend shoppers.

Target and nearby Petco operated on emergency power throughout the outage, a Kapolei Commons representative said.

Radtke said the Kapolei Target's official grand opening will start at 8 a.m. today as scheduled.

Petco was celebrating the second day of a three-day grand opening when the lights went out.

General manager Jerry Coble said that although it has not been officially confirmed, Friday apparently set a record as the biggest first-day opening of any Petco in the country. And he said they expect to do twice the business today.

Jarrett Chang, manager at Sports Authority, said the store's grand opening yesterday went off without a hitch — until the store went dark.

At that point, the grand opening moved outside to the front of the store.

Belle Ezar, of 'Ewa Beach, said by 2:30 p.m. traffic was moving faster on Fort Weaver Road.

"But it was still moving slowly," she said, as she strolled into Target.

Eric Torrate of Waipahu had never shopped at a Target before yesterday.

"It's a little crowded," he said. "And it's a little hot because there's so many people."

His wife, Laraine, wasn't complaining.

"We'll be back," she said. "It's cheaper and they have the bigger sizes. A lot of stores don't carry those."