For at least a year and a half, Waialae Avenue has more resembled an obstacle course — with barriers and torn-up surfaces — than an actual public street for commuters in Kaimuki.

However, despite requiring six more months of work and costing some $2.4 million more than the city had expected, the bustling roadway has finally been repaired and restored — relieving travelers of the bumpy and often hazardous ride through that stretch of Honolulu.

Work to reconstruct parts of the road and repave Waialae for the first time in 24 years closed down lanes and left the street a rumbling mess, often frustrating local residents.

But Waialae is "500 percent or whatever it is" better, Hawaii Bicycling League Executive Director Chad Taniguchi said Thursday during a gathering with city officials in Kaimuki to mark the completion.

Before the repairs, local cyclists would feel as though their kidneys were being jostled along every foot of the road, he said, but "now it’s smooth."

Crews have painted temporary striping, and city officials say the permanent road striping will begin later this month and will include "sharrows" — painted arrows along the street shoulder for bicyclists to share the road.

The project’s contract was originally for $9.3 million, and with the extra costs, the repair project exceeded its 10 percent contingency, according to Mark Yonamine, the city’s acting Department of Design and Construction director.

The effort to restore Waialae from around 1st Avenue to the H-1 freeway was originally set to end in December. However, after workers discovered sinkholes and "soft spots" below the surface, the contractor was given until the end of June, and city officials later acknowledged it could take even longer to finish.

The Waialae work is part of a larger citywide effort to repave some 1,500 lane-miles of the city’s worst streets in a five-year period, averaging about 300 lane miles a year.

Road officials paved nearly 400 miles last year, with many of those road projects some of the easier jobs around the city.

City officials report having paved 203 lane-miles in the first six months of 2014. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Thursday that he expects the city will again exceed 300 lane-miles this year, even though some of this year’s paving projects are considered more difficult.

The repairs to Waialae and some of its side streets should last 10 to 15 years, and the road should hold up even longer with proper maintenance and road upkeep, Yonamine said.

Crews are slated to finally start repaving Beretania Street from University Avenue to Alapai Street in the next three months or so, he added. Work is also underway to repair another key thoroughfare in Central Oahu, Meheula Parkway.

Crews are further preparing to repave 29 lane miles of road in Palolo Valley, mauka of Waialae, Caldwell said.