District 4 boasts some of the more affluent communities on the island. However, with its 176 lane-miles of roads rated poor or worse, the region also has the dubious distinction of having the most substandard roads out of all nine City Council districts on Oahu, based on a survey done late last year. (The district also has the most city-owned lane-miles, at 519.)

City Councilman Stanley Chang said the bad roads are the No. 1 complaint he hears from constituents. The roads are also his No. 1 priority, he said — adding that he pushed for Honolulu to improve its road condition survey and create a new maintenance policy in 2012.

District 4 had nearly the lowest total percentage of total roads graded "fair" or better, at 65.8 percent. Only District 9 scored lower, at 62.1 percent — and that district has about 130 fewer total city lane-miles than District 4.

Similarly, District 4 saw 34 percent of its roads score "poor" or lower. Again, only District 9, with its fewer total lane-miles, scored worse, at 37.9 percent.

About 26 lane-miles of road, representing 5 percent of District 4’s lane-miles, were found to be "failed" — the worst of the worst.

YOUR COMMENTS

Star-Advertiser readers sound off on island roads via Facebook, online story comments and emailed feedback:

"Kamehameha hwy in front of Patsy Mink Regional Park. Husband driving, hit a deep pothole, I chipped my tooth. Had to have a root canal then a gold crown."
–Laurie Lee

"Having previously worked for a company on the mainland that did (building) materials testing, including asphalt mixes, makes me wonder whether Hawaii needs to have a more specific asphalt design (recipe) to handle our tropical weather. Perhaps a different mix of what goes into our asphalt would allow it to hold up better and last longer. Maybe DOT needs to look into something like this."
–mainland_refugee

"They are way tooooooo many to count — our roads are much worse than those in Venezuela, where we lived for three years. Now, just imagine that!"
–Nancy Terrell

THE PAVEMENT CONDITION INDEX

To rate how badly damaged a road’s surface is many cities including Honolulu use a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-designed point system. Roads are scored between 0 and 100, 0 being the worst and 100 being the best. The score is calculated mainly using three criteria: the type(s) of damage, how severe the damage is, and how extensive it is.

Because it’s a score, there could be different types of damage seen in different categories. Here’s a general idea of what drivers can expect.

Click to enlarge the chart.

Click to enlarge the chart.

THE WORST ROADS IN DISTRICT 4

Some roads may have been repaired since the City and County of Honolulu conducted its survey in 2012. An asterisk (*) denotes city road segments that are not listed on the city’s repaving schedule. Many of those roads are still in the design phase and will go out to bid for construction within a year, officials say.