Shallow utility lines halted Beretania Street roadwork

Question: We have not noticed any roadwork going on, no resurfacing, repaving or repairs on Beretania Street, from University Avenue to South Street. They seemed to have stopped work around the holidays and never started up. Now we see that they’re going to start paving Kapahulu Avenue and Atkinson Drive, which need it, too, but Beretania is a mess. Nothing has been done and the road is awful. What about finishing Beretania — or even starting work on it? (Combination of three complaints.)

Answer: At this point, there is no restart date for resurfacing Beretania Street, a project that initially was to take one year, cost $9.4 million and be completed sometime this fall.

If worse comes to worst, the whole project may be canceled and put out for rebidding.

We had to wait until Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s State of the City speech on Tuesday to find out what was happening — or not happening — on one of the oldest streets in Honolulu because he wanted to address why the repaving work had to be halted on this major thoroughfare.

Caldwell explained that after the contractor redid the concrete bus pads on Beretania Street, crews encountered utility lines and even an old sewage system from the early 1900s within a couple of inches of the surface.

The shallow utilities were discovered last fall, as the contractor was "potholing" — digging small excavation holes — for existing utilities along the street, explained Mark Yonamine, deputy director of the city Department of Design and Construction. Those shallow lines were found primarily between Keeaumoku Street and University Avenue.

Construction was halted in mid-December.

Currently, the project design consultant is redesigning the pavement section to be a "mill and fill," just repaving the top 3 inches, instead of a full-depth reconstruction, because of the existing shallow utility lines.

"Once we negotiate with the current contractor on a revised construction cost, we will restart the project," Yonamine said. But he couldn’t provide a project restart date, saying it depends on how the negotiations proceed with the contractor.

"If we cannot come to an agreement, the city does have the option of canceling the project and rebidding," Yonamine said.

In his speech, Caldwell said the decision was made to go with the simpler "mill and fill" along Beretania Street for now, instead of the more time-consuming and complicated task of relocating the shallow utility lines, because the city already is "doing so many road and so many other construction projects."

The plan is to come back to Beretania Street "seven or eight years from now" to relocate the utility lines.

Question: Should seniors (I’m 75) be getting the measles vaccine? I think I read it became available around 1960, which means most people born before then aren’t immunized. I don’t know if I ever had measles as a child. I was a teacher, but didn’t worry about it before because I thought it had been eradicated in the U.S.

Answer: People born before 1957, before there was a measles vaccine, likely already had the measles so do not need to be vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health.

However, anyone not sure of their immunity and/or want to be doubly protected can get another dose of vaccine. It won’t hurt you, health officials said.

On the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ website, vaccines.gov, it’s recommended that adults born during or after 1957 who have not had measles or been vaccinated get at least one dose of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) combination vaccine.

Two doses are recommended for adults who are at higher risk, including college, trade school or other students beyond high school; those who work in a hospital; international travelers or passengers on a cruise ship; and women of childbearing age.

However, pregnant women are advised to wait until after they give birth to get the vaccine.

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