A busy 2.3-mile stretch of South Beretania Street, from University Avenue to Alapai Street, will get a major overhaul from the city during the next 13 months starting Monday, leaving area businesses and residents bracing for some delays and inconveniences.

Mark Yonamine, deputy director for the city Department of Design and Construction, promised that no more than two lanes will be closed at any time during the length of the $9.44 million contract being undertaken by Road and Highway Builders LLC.

Details of the project are expected to be given by the Caldwell administration at this month’s meeting of the McCully-Moiliili Neighborhood Board, 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Washington Middle School’s cafeteria.

"It’s a full-depth reconstruction," Yonamine said. "Right now, it’s so many layers of overlay that people coming out of driveways or side streets kind of bottom out when they’re coming onto Beretania. The cross slope is steep … from the middle of the road out to the gutter. So it’ll be a lot flatter from the middle of the street out to the curb."

That means the layers that have been built up over the years must first be removed before reconstruction and resurfacing begin. The city will also be putting in new, and renovating older, related items like bus pads, sidewalks and curb ramps. Bus pads, because they are concrete, will require several consecutive days to cure, Yonamine said.

The project, part of $140 million that Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the City Council set aside for road rehabilitation last fiscal year, will begin on the University Avenue side and move westward, Yonamine said.

Ron Lockwood, longtime chairman of the McCully/Moiliili Neighborhood Board, said the project is something he and fellow board members have been asking the city to pursue for years. Lockwood said he knew the project was going to happen soon, because the board was told a noise permit was being sought, but said he was not notified about Monday’s start date.

Even so, he put the project on the September agenda and was hoping the city would provide an update before learning of the starting date.

Lockwood said the humps and potholes caused by the uneven asphalt have stressed vehicles and motorists in the area for years. He described one large hump near the entrance to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii across from Longs Drugs.

"The crown in the middle of the street … I’ve never taken a protractor to it, but it must go up 20 inches," he said. "It’s a little stress on people’s hearts for some of our kupuna."

Lockwood said he doesn’t like the coincidence of the Beretania rehabilitation project starting at the same time as a bike path project along South King Street.

But city Transportation Services Director Michael Formby said that project has a much lower impact — requiring only two mauka lanes of King to be restriped and no rehabilitation work. It should take only two to 21⁄2 months, he said.

Daryl Masaki, owner of Masaki’s Auto Repair between Isenberg and McCully streets, said he supports the Beretania project, but is worried about how it will affect his business. The area in front of his shop is only three lanes, including one parking lane. That’s already a hard situation for tow truck drivers trying to back in and out of his property with a vehicle attached. "It’s going to be a pain for the tow truck drivers to bring a car in," he said.

Meanwhile, vehicles with finished repairs typically are parked along Beretania, Masaki said. Now they may need to park along side streets like Coyne and Griffiths, encroaching into residential areas, he said. Or he may have to rent space nearby to store customers’ vehicles during the project.

The announced length of the 390-day project is also a concern, he said. "Holy crap, that’s a long time," he said, noting that government projects sometimes result in shutdowns of large swaths of road even along sections not being worked on.

But Yonamine, a Masaki’s customer, said besides not taking away more than two lanes at a time, the city will close section lengths of the road for the project only on a "block-by-block" basis.

Masaki, who said he received notice of the project in the mail one or two weeks ago, said he realizes the project is badly needed. Nighttime work would be better for his purposes, he said. Most of the residential properties do not face Beretania itself, so allowing work to be done until 10 p.m. or so should be OK for area residents, he said.

Most construction can be undertaken between 7 a.m. and midnight Monday through Friday. The city is obtaining a noise variance to conduct road work at night. Work at major intersections can take place from 7 a.m. to midnight Saturdays and possibly Sundays.

Later night hours, from 10 p.m. to midnight, will be confined to nonresidential portions, city officials said.

Actual work hours have yet to be determined.

Kathy Miyashiro, co-owner of window covering company Design 5 nearby, also believes her shop will be inconvenienced by the project and that the situation may cause her to lose some customers.

"We do have a lot of walk-in customers, and it may be difficult getting in and out of our parking lot," Miyashiro said. When her shop is busy, all four standard stalls and one handicap parking stall are taken and some customers park on the street. Now, she and her employees will probably need to supervise double-parking in the lot, she said.

Delivery trucks may also have a problem, Miyashiro said.

Additionally, her employees park on Coyne Street, and now they will have to compete with others in the neighborhood who typically park along Beretania, including University of Hawaii students taking advantage of free parking, she said.

Nonetheless, "it needs to be done; the road is in poor condition," Miyashiro said. "I think in the long run, us having to sacrifice for the next 13 months is going to be beneficial for all of us."

Area resident Ed Imai said he’s also "mostly happy" the project is coming.

"The road condition is horrible," Imai said. "There are cracks, potholes all along the length of the road they’re talking about working on."

Nonetheless, Imai said he empathizes with his neighbors. "Rush-hour traffic along Beretania is bad to begin with," he said. "If you’re talking about a repaving project, it’s going to cause pretty significant problems."

Imai, who lives on and manages a property that’s been in his family more than four decades, said rush hour occurs during early morning and midafternoon.

A hotline has been set up to deal with concerns and questions, 945-1000.