Question: Why has the company resurfacing Meheula Parkway all but stopped work? No one has done any work for over a month. All the heavy equipment being used to resurface Meheula — parked on Kuahelani at Paia — has all been removed, although the "no parking" signs are still there. The only resurfacing that still needs to be done is on Meheula from Lanikuhana, eastbound, toward the H-2 freeway. The very worst part of Meheula is from Kuahelani to the H-2 where they dug up the left lane and half of the center lane. Because they only dug up half of the center lane, there is a trench, 1 to 2 inches in depth, maybe 50 to 60 feet long and a foot to 21/2 feet wide. The road was very uneven. The crew came back for one day on Sept. 16 to level the road, then disappeared again.
Question: What is going on with Grace Pacific in Mililani? They work there so many days, then they skip out — you see them down in Waipio. They don’t complete the work in Mililani for a long time, then they come back, do a little work, then jump someplace again. Why is the city allowing Grace Pacific to jump all over like that? It’s inconveniencing people in Mililani — we have to go over all these huge bumps because they don’t complete the job.
Answer: We first contacted the city Department of Design and Construction, which awarded the $13 million-plus contract for the resurfacing of Meheula Parkway, about your complaints.
The only comment was, "The contractor is still on schedule to complete the project by the end of this year."
However, Grace Pacific LLC defended and explained its work, saying the project has been ongoing.
Aside from unforeseen problems — a plugged sewer manhole and an unexpected underground drain box — "Work has never stopped on the project unless we encountered inclement weather conditions," which prevents work because of project specifications, said Darrell Goo, Grace Pacific’s senior vice president of construction.
He also said it "is not true" that no work was done for over a month: "We have had at least one and sometimes two crews working on Meheula Parkway in the area from H-2 freeway to Kapanoe Street, which is also a part of this project."
It was because of the plugged manhole and need for a reconstructed drain box that work was moved to the mauka side of Meheula and the H-2 for the past four weeks, Goo said. He also pointed out that it is not Grace Pacific, but another paving contractor, working in Waipio.
Regarding the unexpected problems: A private contractor for the city wastewater branch recently spent three weeks clearing out a blocked sewage manhole between 500 feet mauka of the intersection of Meheula Parkway, Lanikuhana Avenue and Hookelewaa Street, and the H-2 freeway, he said.
If it weren’t for that problem and need for a new drain box, paving in that area would have been completed by now, he said.
Regarding the "no parking" signs: "We will check the area to make sure the parking signs are removed," Goo said.
This is where the project stands as of this week:
All final paving work has been completed in the makai-bound lanes of Meheula from Lanikuhana Avenue to the H-2 freeway, while paving has been completed in the mauka-bound lanes from Lanikuhana Avenue to 500 feet mauka of the intersection of Meheula/Lanikuhana Avenue/Hookelewaa.
The remainder of the paving in the mauka-bound lanes to the H-2 freeway will be completed after the drain box is reconstructed.
Work was to begin Wednesday to resurface the area mauka of the H-2 freeway from Kapanoe Street heading makai toward the freeway, Goo said.
Mahalo
To the kind man who came to my rescue in the Hokua parking lot after my truck hit the pillar in the parking space. He jumped in and backed it out with no further damage. I wish his aloha comes back to him many times over! — Cheryl
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