Highways

HONOLULU – The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) advises Oahu motorists of upcoming westbound lane closures on the H-1 Freeway Airport Viaduct as ongoing repairs to the concrete viaduct deck continue Friday night into Monday morning.

Two right lanes will be closed on the H-1 Freeway in the westbound direction from the Keehi Interchange to the Hickam AFB/Naval Base Off-Ramp (Exit 15B) from 9 p.m. Friday, December 5, continuously through 12:01 a.m. on Monday, December 8.

All freeway ramps to and from the airport will remain open. However, several detour routes will be in effect in the area to accommodate the work (see map below).

• The Hickam AFB/Naval Base Off-Ramp (Exit 15B) to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) will be closed. Westbound freeway traffic to JBPHH should use the Arizona Memorial/Stadium Off-Ramp (Exit 15A) to Kamehameha Highway and make a U-turn at the Radford Drive intersection. JBPHH-bound traffic should stay in the right lane and use the Hickam AFB/Naval Base exit ramp.

 

• Two left lanes on Nimitz Highway will be closed in the westbound direction between Elliott Street and Valkenburgh Street as a precaution due to the deck repair work above. Although no work is being done on Nimitz Highway, these closures ensure the safety of motorists as concrete hydro-demolition work is taking place above.

 

• The Valkenburgh Street intersection with Nimitz Highway will be partially closed. Eastbound motorists wishing to turn left onto Valkenburgh Street should continue on Nimitz Highway, proceed past Valkenburgh Street, and use the U-turn lane between Paiea Street and Camp Catlin Road to return to Valkenburgh Street in the westbound lanes. Meanwhile, Valkenburgh Street traffic wishing to access the lower Valkenburgh Street area south of Nimitz Highway will be detoured westbound to Kamehameha Highway. Traffic can then make a U-turn at the Radford Drive intersection and stay in the center lane to the Airport ramp back to Nimitz Highway.

Motorists are advised that the H-1 Freeway speed limit will be reduced to 15 MPH through the work zone area in order to minimize traffic-induced vibrations that may lead to bubbles forming in the newly poured concrete. In addition, this reduced speed ensures the safety of both motorists and construction crews working on the viaduct.

The DOT urges drivers to allow for extra travel time and to drive slowly and safely through the work zone area. Lane closure information will be distributed to the media, available on the HDOT website at hidot.hawaii.gov, and released through our social media channels on Facebook and Twitter, #hitraffic.