7-mile project still not done, 2 decades later

Almost two decades ago the state published an environmental assessment for widening 7 miles of a busy North Kona highway, a project that was supposed to cost $43 million and be completed in 2000.

But progress was far slower than expected for the Queen Kaahumanu Highway widening project, which was delayed, partially built, and then delayed again.

Later, when Hawaii island was stuck in the Great Recession and Kona construction crews were hungry for work, community leaders hoped the bulldozers would get moving on the project to provide local jobs.

And again, there were delays.

Construction on the last 5 miles of the original 7-mile project to expand the highway from two lanes to four is scheduled to begin this fall, but some jaded West Hawaii residents are saying they will believe it when they see it.

"I am not holding my breath," said Gunner Mench, chairman of the South Kohala Traffic Safety Committee. "Are you kidding? I would not place a prediction on that."

During year after year of delays and traffic jams in North Kona, the Queen Kaahumanu project came to symbolize for some an inability on the part of state government to promptly complete needed highway construction.

There was a parade of problems with the project.

Disputes over bidding requirements for Queen Kaahumanu triggered legal challenges by construction companies that stopped the project, and the second phase of construction had to be put back out to bid three times.

Historic sites were somehow overlooked in a 1995 archaeological survey, and a new study was required. Based on the results of that survey, the National Park Service and Native Hawaiian groups in 2011 asked for complex new consultations under the National Historic Preservation Act.

The Federal Highway Administration decided it needed to re-evaluate the project, and concerns were raised about noise from the project many years after state officials believed they had resolved those issues.

Gov. David Ige cites the Queen Kaahumanu project as a prime example of the ways that roadwork in Hawaii can be snagged in environmental reviews or other problems, becoming part of a backlog of hundreds of millions of dollars in federally funded projects.

At its peak in 2010, Hawaii’s backlog in federal projects totaled $940 million in unspent highway construction funding.

Since then, the state has reduced that backlog to $661 million, and Ige said his administration will press forward with Queen Kaahumanu and similar projects.

Even when there are procurement challenges and litigation, "if we put a project out to bid and there’s a protest, it shouldn’t take us three years to figure out," Ige said. "So we’re trying to look at and organize our expertise, to try and look at these issues head-on because I don’t think it serves anybody’s purpose when a project gets stalled for five years or six years. I don’t think it serves anyone."

Marni Herkes, former president of the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, said most Kona residents never understood what went wrong or how the widening project could be delayed for so long.

"I think we all just threw up our hands. I heard people getting very frustrated and kind of giving up. There was not a lot of talk about why," she said. But residents, tourists and South Kohala resort employees were stuck in daily traffic jams and urgently wanted the state to add those new lanes to the crowded highway.

"It was very popular because people couldn’t get home," she said of the widening project. "They were spending more than two hours on the road trying to come home from work."

Edwin Sniffen, state Department of Transportation Highways Division deputy director, said officials pressed ahead with the second phase of the Queen Kaahumanu project before the design was completed as a way of quickly securing federal funds.

The design-build widening project was awarded to a contractor with the understanding that the state, the design team and the contractor would sort through design and other problems later, he said. There were concerns about permitting and environmental issues "but we knew that we could get those things covered in construction," he said.

In that sense, "it worked, because that money was locked up and everything moved forward — slower than we wanted, but it moved forward," Sniffen said. Similarly, the state always understood it needed to do more work later on the original archaeological survey, he said.

The 1995 survey "was sufficient to move forward for the award and selection of the contractor, knowing that when we get into the construction stage prior to moving to active construction, we would have to look at potential updates to any portions of the (environmental assessment) should re-evaluations dictate it," he said.

As it turned out, the National Park Service warned the state that the original archaeological survey had missed some cultural features, and a new survey completed in 2012 identified 54 new historic properties within the project limits. Sixteen features within the project boundaries were identified as being eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Sniffen said the requirements for such surveys today are "totally different" from the requirements in the 1990s. Environmental reviews that were done earlier had to be redone later "because of the different levels of effort that were necessary at the time."

Since then, the state DOT has changed its strategy to require that projects move quickly into construction after federal funds have been secured for the work.

"Today we wouldn’t have done the same thing, because $80 million or so was locked up in that project that couldn’t be expended for that five-year time frame," Sniffen said.

Aaron Stene, a former blogger and longtime advocate for road improvements in Kona, watched closely for years as the Queen Kaahumanu widening project was partially built, and then stalled. He said traffic is becoming more congested as Kona bounces back from the recession.

"I still believe that this is a very important project that needs to get done," he said. "We’re getting back into where things are getting economically better, and I believe that this project really needs to get moving."

QUEEN KAAHUMANU HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE

Bid protests and complex cultural issues stalled plans to widen Queen Kaahumanu Highway in North Kona from two lanes to four.

1991

Based on traffic flows, the Island of Hawaii Long Range Highway Plan concludes the Queen Kaahumanu Highway between Keahole Airport and Palani Road must be expanded from the original two lanes to either four lanes or six lanes.

1992

Consultant completes a noise impact assessment for the proposed highway widening project.

1995

Cultural Surveys Hawaii completes an archaeological inventory survey of areas to be affected by the planned widening project. A Section 4(f) evaluation of cultural and historic impacts under the U.S. Department of Transportation Act of 1966 is completed, and consultant R.M. Towill finishes an environmental assessment for the widening project that includes a traffic study and forecast.

1996

Federal Highway Administration and the Hawaii Department of Transportation approve the environmental assessment for the Queen Kaahumanu Highway Widening Project from Kailua to Keahole in North Kona, allowing the project to advance. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in mid-1998 and finish in mid-2000. The entire 7-mile widening project is expected to cost $42.9 million.

2005

After years of setbacks caused by the business failure of the original design firm and delays in obtaining the right-of-way, ground is finally broken on Phase 1 of the widening project, a 2.5-mile segment from Henry Street to Kealakehe Parkway. The contractor is Hawaiian Dredging & Construction, which won the $28.6 million contract.

2007

State solicits proposals for a design-build contract for Phase 2 of the widening project, which extends from Kealakehe Parkway to Keahole airport.

2008

Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park Superintendent Geraldine Bell raises concerns about the finding of “no significant impact” for the 1996 environmental assessment and presents state transportation officials with a list of 20 archaeological sites the Park Service contends were “missed” during the 1995 archaeological survey.

>> State DOT awards the Phase 2 widening contract to Goodfellow Bros. Inc., but Kiewit Pacific Co. files a bid protest. The state rescinds the award and puts the project back out to bid, and again awards the contract to Goodfellow Bros. Inc. Construction is expected to take 701 days, and the Goodfellow bid is for $77.2 million.

2009

The award of the contract to Goodfellow is challenged by competitor Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. A state hearings officer rules the Goodfellow bid was flawed, and the DOT rescinds its award of the contract for Phase 2. The state issues a third request for bids for the Phase 2 widening project.

>> Construction is completed on Phase 1, which is the portion closest to Kailua-Kona between Palani Road and Kealakehe Parkway. The first phase final cost is $46 million.

2010

DOT again awards the design-build contract for Queen Kaahumanu Highway Widening Phase 2 to Goodfellow for $76.2 million.

2011

The National Park Service requests a Section 106 consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act before Phase 2 is built. The state also begins consultations with Native Hawaiian groups that will continue in the years to follow.

2012

The state accepts a new archaeological survey of the project site by Cultural Surveys Hawaii done in response to concerns by the National Park Service and others. The new survey identifies 54 new historic properties within the project limits that were not identified in the 1995 survey. Sixteen of the historic properties within the project boundaries are identified as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The new archaeological survey triggers a new Section 4(f) assessment of the project under the U.S. Department of Transportation Act.

>> Redesign work begins on the southern portion of Phase 2 of the widening project to avoid 15 of the 16 most important historic properties.

2013

The National Park Service requests the state either install “quiet pavement technology” to reduce noise from the widened highway at the Kaloko-Honokohau park, or conduct a noise study.

2014

A proposed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act between the Federal Highway Administration and others is submitted to the federal government for review. Consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff completes a new traffic study documenting the need for the project.

2015

The MOA is approved. Among the provisions of the agreement is a promise by state DOT to provide $800,000 to fund a partnership with the University of Hawaii at Hilo to fund Native Hawaiian cultural outreach and education for five years, including scholarships and support for immersion or charter schools with a Hawaiian focus.

>> A second evaluation of the widening project under Section 4(f) of the federal Department of Transportation Act is completed. A second noise impact study is also completed, and concludes the projected noise levels won’t exceed federal standards at the national park and therefore do not require any mitigation. A re-evaluation of the original 1996 environmental assessment affirms the original finding of no significant impact.

>> Archaeological recovery and fencing begin, with actual construction on the last 5.2-mile stretch of the project scheduled to begin in August or September. Construction is expected to be complete in two years.

— Compiled by Kevin Dayton