Where’s all the traffic? Oh, yes

No, it wasn’t your imagination. The commute into work this morning was likely smoother than normal for a weekday, with good reason: It’s winter recess for the public schools.

The respite from the usual bumper-to-bumper traffic is indeed welcome, especially in a season when much else is probably more hectic: holiday shopping, mall parking and family get-togethers, anyone?

Drivers, enjoy it while it lasts. The happy traffic holiday will continue for at least two weeks, until the first week of January, when the kids head back to school.

Building a better Farrington High

It will take 10 to 20 years and cost $100 million, but no one at Farrington High School is complaining. The school has been granted a unique opportunity — a top-to-bottom physical renovation of the aging Kalihi high school, the second largest in the state. Groundbreaking took place on Thursday.

Now comes the hard part: Getting the job done right, and being patient as the project is built in phases.

It’s like another project expected to be finished around the same time: the rail transit system. That one will cost $5.17 billion.

The Kapalama station, a few blocks from Farrington, is scheduled for completion by 2019.

We expect that will be worth the wait, too.