Another round of partial freeway closures is slated to begin next week — this time for construction of the rail guideway overpass.
Honolulu rail authorities Tuesday announced that up to four lanes of the H-1 freeway near Leeward Community College will be partially closed for days at a time over a period of about one year.
While freeway traffic will never be completely shut down, up to several lanes may be closed for both east- and westbound traffic during a portion of the night and morning hours.
The partial closures will start after the Thanksgiving weekend, Mondays through Thursdays from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Motorists are asked to drive with caution around work crews.
"The message here today is safety," said Daniel Grabauskas, chief executive officer and executive director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, who spoke Tuesday at a news conference.
Construction of the 20-mile rail line from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2019, said Lorenzo Garrido, HART’s director of engineering and construction. Garrido said work on the line’s guideway near the college is just one area where construction is taking place.
Lane closures are occurring already in Ewa and Waipahu, where segments of the rail line are being constructed or prepped for construction. Farrington Highway between Kualakai Parkway (North-South Road) and Old Fort Weaver Road Loop is closed in both directions through January.
Precast segments of the guideway have been transported to West Oahu sites, where they are lifted by a crane onto rail columns. But for the rail line overpass near Leeward Community College, the columns and structure to support the overpass are being built at the site.
HART spokesman Scott Ishikawa said building the guideway on-site near the college is expected to reduce the impact on traffic.
Ishikawa said HART officials plan to ease into their plan to shut down lanes for the guideway, initially closing two southbound lanes on H-2 near the H-1 merge for a couple of weeks in December.
The two lanes will already be closed around that time because of work on the guideway piers.
Ishikawa said westbound lane closures are expected to start next year.
