Question: You’ve written a lot about the Kailua/Lanikai roundabout, but what about the one they are building past Kaneohe?
Answer: The Kahaluu Roundabout project is almost done, according to the state Department of Transportation, which issued an update Tuesday. This project, also known as the Kahekili Roundabout, converts the T-intersection at Kamehameha and Kahekili highways near the Hygienic Store into a roundabout, which the DOT says will reduce conflicts with left turns and make traffic flow more safely and efficiently. Construction began in June 2023.
“For the last few weeks, crews worked nightly from 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. to complete pedestrian crossings throughout the roundabout” and switched over this week to daytime hours for paving and concrete work on the city-owned portion of Kamehameha Highway through the roundabout, the DOT’s news release said.
“Remaining work includes paving of the top layer of the roadway, striping and guardrail installations,” it said, anticipating that work to be done at night and be finished by Jan. 31, weather permitting. “Flashing pedestrian crossing beacons are expected to be installed in the latter half of 2025 as funding and materials become available and will be announced as scheduled.”
Readers also ask about Kaneohe repaving, and the DOT posted an update Tuesday about that, too, saying that the Kamehameha Highway Repaving project, from Likelike Highway to Castle Junction, should wrap up by month’s end, weather permitting.
“Final paving work at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway/Kaneohe Bay Drive/Likelike Highway was completed” at night on Jan. 6 and 7. Permanent striping throughout the stretch will occur during the day, requiring a single lane closure in the direction of the work from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays; striping is expected to be done Jan. 31.
As for the Kalapawai Roundabout, at the intersection of Kailua Road and Kalaheo Avenue fronting Kalapawai Market, the city’s Department of Transportation is asking visitors to avoid Lanikai because of heavy traffic delays during this phase of construction. Parking is restricted in Lanikai seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the restriction took effect Jan. 11 and is expected to last until mid-March.
“Beachgoers are asked to consider visiting other beaches along Oahu’s east shore, or to ride TheBus Route 671 from Kailua Town for convenient alternative access to Lanikai. DTS will leave in place temporary ‘sawhorse’ road signs on affected streets in Lanikai, to warn drivers of the parking restrictions,” the department said Jan. 10 in a news release.
Residents of the area also should expect congestion during construction hours and allow for extra travel time.
Q: Watching the news about the L.A. fires, it’s like flashbacks to Maui with all the aerial shots of debris, there’s so little left of the burned homes and businesses. Did they get all that cleaned up in Lahaina?
A: All residential properties and 99% of the commercial properties that agreed to debris removal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been cleared, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The residential properties were finished in September, about a year after the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires.
Mahalo
On Dec. 27 a couple and daughter, after shopping at Iwilei Costco, noticed a senior person going row after row looking for where she had parked her car. They took the time during a busy holiday period to assist; the gentleman drove around the parking lot and located the shopper’s car. I extend a big mahalo to these kind people. — Grateful senior citizen
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.
