A man in his 20s was killed after walking in front of a city bus on the H-1 freeway Wednesday, police said. The subsequent accident investigation touched off hours of pau-hana commute congestion.

Police said the man intentionally walked in front of the city bus on the freeway, about a half-mile east of the Waipahu offramp about 3 p.m. Police closed two lanes for about two hours to investigate.

Roger Morton, president and general manager of Oahu Transit Services, which operates TheBus, said according to a preliminary report, the man entered the freeway on foot over traffic barriers on the right side of H-1 and was hit by a bus traveling on the freeway near a construction zone.

He said the Route 40 bus, which was heading to Makaha, was in operation and likely had riders. No other injuries were reported.

DOT spokesman Tim Sakahara said the construction zone is part of a state project to widen the Pearl City viaduct. He said construction had already finished for the day and one lane that had been closed for construction was already reopened when the incident happened.

The pedestrian was not a construction worker from the site, Sakahara said.

In the aftermath of the accident, a city spokesman urged drivers to postpone their commute or to avoid Kamehameha Highway because traffic was quicker on H-1.

All city, state and rail construction in the westbound direction in Pearl City was also postponed until 10 p.m. to help with traffic.

The DOT’s Sakahara said the westbound carpool lane was opened to all vehicles and the westbound right shoulder lane to motorists between the H-1 airport viaduct and Pearl City.

About 5 p.m., pau-hana commute times were running more than two hours from downtown to Kapolei.