The drive from Hawaii Kai to town took longer than normal this morning because there was one less town-bound lane on Kalanianaole Highway during the morning rush hour.

The HOV lane into town was not set up this morning because of an "unfortunate" situation, said Louise Kim McCoy, a spokeswoman for the city. 

McCoy said a substitute driver on the crew that sets up the contra-flow lane couldn’t make it to work this morning and the city’s road division didn’t learn about the situation until it was too late to set up the lane.

The extra lane is normally available for vehicles with more than one occupant during the morning commute on Kalanianaole Highway.

McCoy said two city road crews set down the cones marking the contra-flow lanes on Kalanianaole Highway and Kapiolani Boulevard. There were no problems on Kapiolani Boulevard.