Question: I’ve been hearing a lot about the afternoon westbound contra-flow lane but haven’t been able to find much information about it. Where will the contra-flow lane begin and end? How did the state Department of Transportation reach a decision to do a p.m. westbound contra-flow lane?
Question: I drive the Pearl City corridor daily but usually not late at night. What are they doing on the right and left sides of the freeway near the Pearl City and Waipahu areas of the freeway? It seems like construction in the same areas has been going on for over a year with no end in sight. Last Monday night the electronic signs said four right lanes were closed, but as I approached Pearl City it was the four left lanes that were closed.
Answer: Although work to repair the H-1 freeway in the Pearl City/Waipahu area will continue for several more months, the long-planned “PM Contraflow” lane — a ZipperLane headed west during the afternoon rush hour — may be ditched.
“That portion of the project is currently being re-evaluated,” department spokeswoman Caroline Sluyter told us last week.
In the meantime the department will be creating additional “auxiliary” lanes to help with the traffic flow.
The department didn’t give a reason for the second thoughts now.
“We plan to explain the entire situation if and when a decision is finalized,” Sluyter said. “This is something that is being weighed very carefully and with much discussion and consideration as what will be the very best decision regarding not only the cost, but also the traffic for both west- and eastbound commuters.”
The afternoon ZipperLane was to run 7.2 miles, from the Radford Drive Overpass to the Waikele exit.
When the department held its groundbreaking ceremony for the contra-flow project in June 2012, Director Glenn Okimoto said, “Every vehicle that uses the PM Contraflow will be removed from the normal traffic lanes, reducing congestion and travel times overall.”
Federal funds are to cover 80 percent of the project’s $82.1 million cost.
Meanwhile, to help deal with westbound traffic congestion, Sluyter said additional work has been added to the project, including creating an auxiliary lane by re-striping the freeway from the Aiea pedestrian overpass to the Pearl City offramp.
Also, from the Pearl City onramp to the Waipahu exit, the viaduct will be widened to add an auxiliary lane there as well.
“This is intended to reduce the bottleneck that occurs between Pearl City and Waipahu,” Sluyter said. “Additional widening will take place on the H-1 westbound towards Waikele.”
WHAT’S HAPPENING
For weekly updates on what’s being done and when lanes will be closed, call the hotline at 945-1144 or go to the website pmcontraflow.com.
Most of the work is being done at night, between 7:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m., but one lane westbound will be closed between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. this week.
Current work on the Pearl City viaduct is to repair the concrete deck by hydroblasting (removing) portions of the concrete until midnight, then pouring new, quick-drying concrete to allow vehicles to drive on it by the time freeway lanes reopen at 4:30 a.m., Sluyter said.
The westbound deck repairs are expected to be completed by early 2014.
After that, deck repairs will begin on the eastbound lanes and be completed by August.
“When the design-build project first started, the majority of the repair work was scheduled for the innermost lanes,” Sluyter said. “As the work progressed, it became apparent the repairs needed to be done on additional lanes as well. That is what is going on now in the westbound right lanes.”
Regarding motorists being misinformed about what lanes were closed, she said they would see if it was a mistake with the smaller variable message boards posted along the freeway.
“We understand how a mistake like that can be frustrating for motorists, and we appreciate the public’s continued patience as we work to improve the state’s aging infrastructure and address traffic congestion,” Sluyter said.
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