Highways

HONOLULU – The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) advises Oahu motorists of single lane closures on Farrington Highway in the eastbound direction between Helelua Street and Nanakuli Avenue on Monday, Jan. 12, through Wednesday, Jan. 14, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., daily.

Crews will be highlighting the temporary double-yellow center line striping and adding reflective lane markers to provide enhanced visual contrast and a tactile response for motorists to address community safety concerns.  Old lane striping that had been painted over with black paint will be eradicated as well, after small sections of the paint were dislodged by heavy rains in recent weeks, exposing some of the old yellow lines.  Adjustments of concrete barriers will also be made to restore a mid-block crosswalk fronting Ka Waihona o Ka Naauao Public Charter School.

Special duty police officers will be on-site manually directing traffic through the Helelua Street, Haleakala Avenue and Nanakuli Avenue intersections to mitigate traffic.  A traffic message board will be placed near the work zone to notify motorists of the upcoming work.  Advisory signs will also be posted to notify trucks and large vehicles to use the right lane.  Following these scheduled lane closures, road widening work will be conducted behind the concrete barriers on the Makai-side until March-April.

Motorists are advised to anticipate delays and to drive with caution through the work zone area.

This work is part of the Farrington Highway Intersection Improvements project that will address traffic congestion between Nanakuli Avenue and Haleakala Avenue.  At an approximate construction cost of $10.1 million, the project will widen the existing four-lane highway between Nanakuli Avenue and Haleakala Avenue to include a new 10-foot-wide auxiliary lane to accommodate vehicles making left turns.

The new lane will help to mitigate traffic congestion through this busy corridor at all hours, but especially during morning rush-hours when left-turning vehicles heading to Nanakuli Elementary School, Nanakuli Middle and High School, Nanaikapono Elementary School and Ka Waihona o Ka Naauao Public Charter School, can slow traffic in the left lanes heading in both directions.

The project will also create a new eight-foot-wide shared use path for pedestrians and bicyclists, relocate utilities and upgrade traffic signal, street lighting and drainage systems.  Work will require a realignment of the existing OR&L railroad tracks on the makai-side to accommodate the widened highway through the area.  Project completion is anticipated in May of 2016.

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