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The state’s $19.4 million rehabilitation of the 85-year-old Kipapa Stream (Roosevelt) Bridge in Mililani has been completed.
The state Department of Transportation held a blessing at the site Friday to mark the reopening of the 484-foot-long bridge, which is on Kamehameha Highway between Ka Uka Boulevard and Lanikuhana Avenue.
The work, paid for with 80 percent federal funds and 20 percent state highway funds, included repaving the roadway, widening the bridge to provide for 7-foot shoulders in both directions, increasing the structural capacity and seismic retrofit to meet current design standards, replacing railings, re-striping lanes and increasing the vehicle weight limit to 40 tons from 16 tons, according to a DOT news release issued Friday.
DOT Director Jade Butay thanked residents for their patience as the bridge was closed over several weekends to complete work.
The department also completed several safety enhancements to the area around the bridge, including re-striping the roadway to accommodate two 11-foot travel lanes (one northbound and one southbound), a 3- to 6-foot center median and 4- to 6-1/2-foot shoulders on both sides.
It is hoped the increased shoulder space will reduce the risk of head-on collisions. Between 2012 and 2016 there were 13 motor vehicle crashes due to a vehicle crossing over the centerline on the north side of the bridge (which did not have a center median) and four on the south side of the bridge (which does have a striped median).
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