Question: The city is in Phase 9 of the Kalapawai Roundabout project. How many more phases are there after this? When will this project be completely finished? We’ve suffered long enough with road closures and detours.
Answer: Construction is in its final phases (2A and 9) and should wrap up within a few months. “The entire project is set to be done by the end of summer. However, the roundabout itself is completed and functioning. The remaining work includes sidewalk and utility improvements/relocations,” Travis Ota, a spokesperson for Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services, said in an email Wednesday.
Work on Phase 9 of the Kalapawai Roundabout Improvement Project began Wednesday, with construction scheduled from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday along South Kalaheo Avenue between Kailua Road and Kuukama Street. This section of South Kalaheo Avenue will be closed 24/7 in both directions, although the roundabout will remain open.
Lanikai inbound traffic along South Kalaheo Avenue is detoured at Kuulei Road to South Kainalu Drive to Kailua Road and then through the roundabout to resume travel on South Kalaheo Avenue, according to the Phase 9 map at kalapawaiproject.com. It’s the reverse for Lanikai outbound traffic (roundabout to Kailua Road, to South Kainalu Drive to Kuulei Road to South Kalaheo Avenue), it shows.
“Visitors are encouraged to explore other beaches along O‘ahu’s east shore or use TheBus Route 671 from Kailua Town for convenient access to Lanikai,” DTS said in a news release Tuesday.
Phase 9 is tentatively expected to be completed by mid-June, it said.
Meanwhile, construction work on Phase 2A is on hold because a previously undocumented waterline alignment was discovered that conflicts with planned drainage infrastructure in front of Kailua Beach Center, the news release said. Work will resume after a new design solution for the utilities is finalized, it said.
The overall project’s drainage infrastructure, meant to reduce stormwater ponding that is a problem in the area, includes permeable pavements, trench drains and pre-treatment tanks.
An interim traffic roundabout at South Kalaheo Avenue and Kailua Road fronting Kalapawai Market was first built in 2018, to improve the flow of motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians to and from Kailua Beach and Lanikai. Work on the permanent version began in 2022, with the broader project also including new sidewalks, raised pedestrian crossings and upgrades to improve drainage.
Q: Has Social Security made all the retroactive payments to people hurt by WEP/GPO? I did not get a payment by the end of March as expected.
A: No. The Social Security Administration says it has processed 82% of known cases affected by the Social Security Fairness Act, which repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset. These provisions had reduced or eliminated Social Security benefits for nearly 3 million people who get a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security. Although the agency did say in February that many of those affected would receive retroactive payments by the end of March, it also said that complex cases that must be processed by hand would take much longer (early November is the target for 100% processing) and that some eligible people must apply for the benefit — they wouldn’t be paid automatically. See ssa.gov for details.
Mahalo
On Friday I did a very dumb thing in a parking space near Foodland Kahala. I could not get the car out of the space, which was a nightmare. Luckily, three kind men came and offered their help. I was so very grateful and appreciative. Again, thank you so much for your help. — Sincerely, a desperate senior
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
