Pearl City viaduct repaving to continue

When the new lane on the H-1 freeway’s Pearl City viaduct from Waimalu to Waipahu opened in October, state officials touted the move as a way to bring some relief to thousands of drivers heading to Central and West Oahu. But some residents noticed something was unfinished with the lane: It hadn’t been repaved.

Repaving of the new lane is now expected to be complete in April after crews encountered delays due to rain and when work was suspended during some holidays, according to the state Department of Transportation. Officials had also said that they “elected to take extra time from the outset to get the concrete mix correct in order to obtain faster curing and longer life out of the product.” The new lane used to be the freeway’s deck shoulder, which had not been repaved.

Transportation officials had said the new 2.5-mile westbound lane would accommodate more than 2,000 cars per hour and would ease congestion through some bottlenecks after crews spent several years widening the highway, where drivers endured lane closures and construction.

Ed Sniffen, deputy director for the Highways Division, said Thursday at a town hall meeting at Pearl Ridge Elementary School that he made the decision “to open up the lane sooner rather than later so we can give that capacity to the public.”

Additionally, Sniffen said the hours of the new shoulder lane on the freeway from the Aiea Heights Drive overpass to Waimalu will be extended to 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday by the end of March. Sniffen said officials collected data since the new shoulder, which currently is open from 3:30 to 6 p.m. weekdays, opened in October and found that the additional hours were justified.

Crews will need to add a stripe on the right side of the shoulder lane for safety reasons and fix signage showing the new hours.

Cruz Vina, Pearl City Neighborhood Board member, said he thinks the new lanes have helped a little. He added that he originally pushed for the new shoulder lane to open from 3 to 7 p.m. But he said Friday that mitigation efforts need to also address the congestion on the H-1 freeway westbound onramp from Moanalua Road in Pearl City.

“I think it’s going to eliminate the traffic more so because of the rail traffic coming down on Kamehameha Highway,” said Cruz, a longtime Pearl City resident. “(But) at this point in time, as far as between Aiea and Waipahu, I think the lane traffic is maxed out. People got to think long term.”

For information on DOT lane closures, visit hidot. hawaii.gov/highways/ roadwork/oahu.

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Staff writer Marcel Honore contributed to this report.