Re-striping work will be conducted on Moanalua Freeway to create an extra lane for westbound motorists.

The state Department of Transportation will add a lane between the Stadium/Halawa/Camp Smith offramp and Pearlridge exit. The upcoming work will be done in hopes of reducing congestion before the stadium offramp during peak afternoon traffic, according to spokeswoman Caroline Sluyter.

About 126,000 vehicles per day travel on Moanalua Freeway in both directions. The $150,000 re-striping project will start today.

Two left lanes will be closed from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. nightly from today through Wednesday. The freeway’s two right lanes will close from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. nightly from Wednesday through Friday and from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Friday to  Dec. 16 for re-striping work.

The additional lane, a 4,200-foot stretch, will be available to motorists by Dec. 20, weather permitting.

The number of lanes on that section of the freeway will increase to four from three and will each be 11 feet wide.

The transportation department conducted similar work during the summer on a section of the H-1 freeway in the Makiki area to create an extra lane. That $200,000 project was done to three existing lanes in the Ewa-bound direction between Punahou Street and Pali Highway, and Koko Head-bound between Ward Avenue and Keeaumoku Street.

The three lanes were narrowed to 10 feet from 12 feet to create the fourth lane.

All major road construction work will stop during the holiday season from Dec. 20 to Jan. 1.