Question: It’s been quite a while since the lights went out on the Nimitz bike path. I seem to remember the state Department of Transportation saying they’d be back on by the end of 2011. Is there any new information, since the lights are still out?
Answer: You’ve probably noticed that the lights along Nimitz Highway from Camp Catlin Road to Aolele Street have been repaired.
They were turned on Jan. 13 after $60,000 worth of repairs.
It won’t be until the end of April that the street lights along Nimitz from Aolele Street to Valkenburgh Street are expected to be back in operation, said DOT spokesman Dan Meisenzahl.
The department couldn’t determine how much work was needed to replace copper wires that were stolen until the contractor went in and rewired the system, he said. Because of that, it was decided to do the rewiring in two segments, should unforeseen issues require change orders and long delays.
“Fortunately, there were no problems with the first project, so (the department) is now proceeding with the second project,” Meisenzahl said. It is scheduled to go out to bid this week.
Nimitz Highway under the airport viaduct has been plagued with street light problems.
As we reported in June — is.gd/837ZE0 — Nimitz Highway between Paiea and Aolele streets went dark in November 2010 after an old transformer broke.
A second transformer went down in May, darkening the section between Aolele and Valkenburgh. Both transformers dated back to the 1970s, when the airport viaduct was built.
Replacement transformers had to be ordered from the mainland and built “from scratch,” Meisenzahl said, each taking six months. The first replacement arrived in June.
“The copper wire thefts were discovered when the contractor attempted to install it,” he said. The DOT then had to determine the extent of the theft, “which also took time,” he said. Work to restore the lights was further delayed by the APEC meetings in November and the annual holiday ban on roadwork.
That all said, Meisenzahl said, “It is very important to (the department) to get these lights operational, and we are moving as quickly as the system allows us to.”
He said the DOT appreciates any help the public can give in preventing more thefts of copper wiring. Suspicious activity around any DOT facility or infrastructure should be reported by calling 911.
Question: Do you have the number for the teacher who was accepting old Christmas cards to make into books for sick children? The number I had no longer works.
Answer: Waipahu Intermediate School teacher Merlinda Oania is still accepting used Christmas cards, as well as other kinds of greeting cards, for school projects.
However, her number has changed. Call 484-1482 for information.
You can mail or drop off the cards — fronts only — at her home, 98-596 Kaimu Loop, Aiea, HI 96701, or at school, 94-1455 Farrington Highway, Honolulu 96797.
Last Christmas, her students made 26 booklets with the cards and distributed them to Ronald McDonald House and the Salvation Army, Oania said. Non-Christmas card fronts also were used for projects by the student government, she said.
Mahalo
To the kind “Hawaiian bruddah” police officer who escorted me to Kaiser Moanalua hospital early morning Jan. 5, when I became disoriented and lost my way after getting a phone call that my only brother was flown from Hilo to Oahu after suffering a heart attack. You were truly a godsend for me and my family. — C. Burns
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
