A mauka-side roadway lane dedicated to public and private buses, large trucks and bicycles on Waikiki’s busy Kuhio Avenue has completed its first phase of installation, city officials say.

In what is deemed as a pilot project, the city Department of Transportation Services and Honolulu Complete Streets’ new transit-priority lane is a westbound lane that stretches along Kuhio Avenue, from Kapahulu Avenue to Launiu Street.

Red pavement markings and clear signage are used to prioritize the large and small vehicles that ride daily on the well- traveled thoroughfare.

The initiative, which involves two phases, aims to alleviate traffic congestion and improve transit efficiency in Waikiki. The work is similar to a King Street bus lane project, which reduced bus travel times by up to 30%, the city said.

Currently, 56% of Kuhio Avenue travelers during rush hour are walking, biking or riding public or private buses, while 44% travel by car, the city said.

The new bus lane will enhance safety, support local businesses by increasing foot traffic and provide more reliable transit access for residents, employees and visitors, the city said.

The Honolulu Police Department will warn and educate drivers “who misuse the transit-priority lane” throughout the rest of December, the city said.

Travis Ota, a DTS spokesperson, said the phased project was awarded June 25 to Waipahu-based Kaikor Construction Group Inc.

The contract amount was for $496,000, with Phase 1 costing $334,400, he added.

“The community has been supportive of this project but wants to implement as a pilot in a phased approach, which the city fully supports,” Ota previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “This is what we consider to be a ‘quick-build’ project because it does not require heavy construction to install.”

He said that “the new roadway treatments are limited to pavement markings and signage, which can be adjusted if necessary.”

Still, the lane project has received mixed reviews by some in the Waikiki community.

“The city did present this to us,” Waikiki Neighborhood Board Vice Chair Louis Erteschik previously told the Star-Advertiser. “They didn’t really ask for support. They probably wanted support, but my recollection is we really didn’t vote in support or against.”

He said some board members “definitely had concerns of how this thing was going to play out,” as traffic along Kuhio Avenue is already known to be “kind of tight.”

“It’s not as wide as Kala­kaua (Avenue), and so now you’re going to take out a whole other lane for the bus,” Erteschik said, adding that at least one board member voiced that the project was a “really dumb idea.”

Since 2021, the city said, it’s conducted outreach to Waikiki constituents and the surrounding neighborhoods about the transit-priority lane.

Besides the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, the city said it presented the project to the Waikiki Transportation Management Association, Waikiki Improvement Association, Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Waikiki Business Improvement District and elected officials.

The city said it also spoke to businesses, property owners and tenants in the area regarding the project. Flyers were sent out earlier this week to remind the neighborhood of the upcoming construction.

Although some on the neighborhood board disliked the priority transit-lane concept, Erteschik said he typically rides the bus from his workplace in downtown Honolulu to his home in Waikiki.

“Personally, I kind of like the idea of a dedicated bus lane,” he said, “but I think we as a board had concerns that you’re going to make a traffic problem worse and that the negatives might outweigh the positives.”

According to the DTS, phase 2 of this project — to install bus lanes along Kuhio Avenue between Ka­iulani Street and Kapahulu Avenue in the eastbound direction — will begin after the city collects data in January, to help determine the effects of the completed first phase of this pilot project.

If all goes as planned, the eastbound lane project should be completed before 2025’s summer peak visitor season, DTS states.