Question: A few years ago when the sewer line broke, they closed part of the bike path that parallels Ala Wai School, on the mauka side of Ala Wai Canal. I ride the path daily and use the detour that cuts off a portion of the path. I notice all the construction equipment has been removed, and it appears the project is completed. But there are piles of fill beyond the gate that prevent getting to the path. When will the section that is closed reopen?
Answer: We frequently are asked when the blocked section of the bike path will reopen, and finally have a time frame, albeit not specific.
As the Beachwalk Wastewater Emergency Bypass project nears completion, “the bike path is scheduled to reopen this summer,” Jesse Broder Van Dyke, spokesman for Mayor Kirk Caldwell, told us.
Part of the bike path has been closed since 2006, after a 42-inch sewer main on Kaiolu Street burst, spilling sewage into the Ala Wai Canal. Currently it is used as a construction staging area by the Frank Coluccio Construction Co. and for a tunnel access shaft.
“The contractor is extracting pipes from Ala Wai Canal and filling in the pukas at the five pits along the Beachwalk Force Main,” Broder Van Dyke said. “Right now the last leg of the pipe is in place, but the company must still connect the two ends to other sections of piping. The contractor is working to connect tunnels under the Ala Wai Canal to Ala Moana Park.”
Once that’s completed, the tunnel access shafts will be backfilled and the bypass pipe submerged in the canal, and the above-ground pipe on the mauka side of the canal will be removed.
When that finally happens, the contractor then will restore the ‘Iolani School softball field and the bike path, Broder Van Dyke said.
After the sewer main broke in March 2006 and crews struggled to make repairs, then-Mayor Mufi Hannemann decided to divert what ultimately turned out to be 48 million-plus gallons of untreated sewage into the canal for four days to prevent a backup into homes and hotels.
That catastrophe focused attention on the city’s aging sewer system.
In 2010, following a lawsuit, a consent decree was filed in federal court in which the city pledged to spend more than $3.5 billion to improve its sewage system and pay a $1.6 million fine to federal and state agencies for past sewage spills.
For more information and updates on the Beachwalk project, go to www.beachwalkforcemain.com or call 543-8374.
Question: Do you have contact information for the lady who collects old Christmas cards?
Answer: Waipahu Intermediate School teacher Merlinda Oania welcomes donations of Christmas cards for student projects, as well as greeting cards for any occasion, such as Mother’s Day. “If the pictures are nice,” she even wants your old calendars.
Students in her English as a Second Language classes use the illustrations to make alphabet and poetry books on such topics as honesty, responsibility and caring.
The books are distributed in December to the Salvation Army preschool, as well as to Ronald McDonald House and Shriners Hospitals for Children.
You can mail or drop off the cards — fronts only — at Oania’s home, 98-596 Kaimu Loop, Aiea, HI 96701; or at school, 94-455 Farrington Highway, Honolulu 96797. For information, call 484-1482.
MAHALO
To the two gentlemen who rescued me and my little brown dog in Mililani in December, when we were surrounded by three big dogs. If not for them, I truly believe I would have lost my beloved dog as the two golden retrievers and German shepherd were nipping at him. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Auwe to the owner of the loose dogs! It is your responsibility to keep them on your property.
— Frankie’s Mom
