A rutted gravel road provided a temporary entrance to the new University of Hawaii at West O‘ahu campus on the eve of its opening, and a persistent, warm wind steadily blew a coat of dust onto the campuses’ five new buildings.

But life is already better for UH-West O‘ahu students such as Ariana Lemi­sio, a 22-year-old sociology major who used to spend an hour getting from her home in Maka­kilo to attend the old Pearl City campus. It now takes her just a few minutes to travel three short miles from Maka­kilo to the new, 76-acre UH-West O‘ahu campus in Kapolei, where Lemi­sio stacked books this week as "student staff" inside the air-conditioned, 60,000-square foot library.

"Even though it’s in the middle of nowhere, it’ll bring a new beginning for many people," Lemi­sio said.

Construction began on Aug. 16, 2010. Two years and $175 million later, the UH-West O‘ahu campus will finally welcome an estimated 1,800 students and about 60 faculty for the first day of school on Monday, turning barren sugar cane fields into an institution more important for Oahu’s so-called Second City than even Kapolei’s new police substation, courthouse and shopping centers, said state Rep. Sharon Har.

"For nearly 40 years, government has promised the Second City a four-year educational institution," Har said. "For this today to finally come shows that government is finally living up to its promises to the people of West Oahu."

Har joins others on the Ewa plain who believe UH-West O‘ahu will encourage more Hawaii students to attend a four-year university at home because of its cheaper tuition compared with UH’s flagship Manoa campus, which costs $4,332 per semester for a full-time resident student.

At UH-West O‘ahu the same student pays only $2,796 per semester.

And with more faculty, staff and students traveling shorter distances — or altering the flow of cars away from town — Har said H-1 traffic likely will improve for everyone.

"The university clearly has an impact on the traffic flow," Har said. "It even has the ability to reverse that flow of traffic."

State Sen. Will Espero called the opening of UH-West O‘ahu a "game changer" for Kapolei and environs.

"This is the missing link in West Oahu," Espero said. "I’m not sure people realize the tremendous positive impact that this university will have. When you talk about educating our youth and preparing them for the future, this is what West Oahu needs. Now, instead of growing sugar cane, we’re going to be growing minds. It’s not only going to be this educational institution; it will be an economic catalyst for the region."

UH-West O‘ahu is hardly finished growing.

On Wednesday, Gov. Neil Abercrombie released more than $5 million in state funds for future projects that include designs for an Academy of Creative Media Building to teach digital and creative media production, and for designs for an Allied Health Building, which will train students in dental hygiene.

The unveiling of the new campus this week came with its share of hiccups:

» The temporary gravel road was still letting drivers onto the campus Thursday, but officials finally got the clearance to open a paved road off of Farrington Highway.

» Ground has yet to be broken on UH-West O‘ahu’s administration building, so administrators and other campus officials are spread around empty offices among the existing buildings.

» None of the five buildings has a fancy name, although UH officials would certainly entertain discussions with benefactors wanting a building named in their honor.

So for now the lone building for student instruction bears a sign that simply reads, "Classroom."

And students will take their labs in a different building: "Laboratory."

» UH-West O‘ahu’s address, 91-1000 Farrington Highway, is so new that it doesn’t even show up on Google maps.

» The parking lot was nearly full of cars even before school opened, so a grader cleared an old sugar cane field to accommodate overflow vehicles for this week’s events and for the first day of classes on Monday.

» And brand-new computers in gleaming, air-conditioned classrooms were still being set up while faculty offices were full of boxes yet to be unpacked.

But for Mary Heller, chairwoman of UH-West O‘ahu’s Division of Education, the hassles of moving in and setting up new offices represented nice problems to have.

Heller, who wore a red-and-white T-shirt proclaiming "The West Is the Best," nearly wept at what it means to witness the opening of the new UH-West O‘ahu campus.

"It’s absolutely overwhelming and at the same time wonderful," Heller said. "It just feels so right."