“So many people said it’s not going to happen,” Kenoi said. “You’re reaching too far, too fast. We’re almost there. We’re one block away from building a whole new corridor.”
BY ERIN MILLER | WEST HAWAII TODAY
A combination of good management and good luck have left Hawaii County with enough federal stimulus funding to pave another mile of Ane Keohokalole Highway.
“A lot of it was just good fortune,” Mayor Billy Kenoi said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon as he announced contractor Nan Inc. would complete the midlevel road all the way to Hina-Lani Street.
Several factors allowed the county to add $3.24 million in work to the project, Public Works Director Warren Lee said. For one, the county saved about $1.6 million in construction management costs by managing the project in-house, Lee said. Secondly, contingency money that would have been used if construction workers had encountered additional geotechnical issues, such as finding a number of unmapped lava tubes, or discovering many unexpected archaeological sites, wasn’t used.
Having the county manage the project “did tax our resources,” Lee added.
Acknowledging that impact, Kenoi said the decision to manage similar, large projects in-house will come down to priorities.
“Depending on the project, we want to do it in a strategic way,” he said.
The end result for this project, Kenoi said, is a two-lane road running from Kealakehe Parkway to Hina-Lani Street, with wide shoulders and room for additional expansion in the future. The entire road should open by May, he said, because clearing and some pregrubbing work along the corridor was already part of Nan’s contract.
“We have a lot of work to do to make that happen,” Nan’s Project Manager Alex Leonard said.
To keep costs down, Nan must use the slip-form concrete paving process. The machine and crew Nan brought to Hawaii must be done with their work by the end of March to keep costs down, Leonard added.
Underground utilities and sidewalks will not be complete between Kealakehe and Hina-Lani, he added.
“Better to have a road without all the bells and whistles than no road at all,” Leonard said.
Last week, Palamanui developers provided funding for a portion of Ane Keohokalole Highway from Kaiminani Drive north to the development’s internal road accessing the planned college campus, Kenoi said. Lee estimated the cost to connect the midlevel road from Hina-Lani to Kaiminani will be $30 million to $50 million.
Kenoi plans to show off the county’s progress on Ane Keohokalole Highway later this month, when staff members from the Congressional appropriations office visit Hawaii Island to check up on the stimulus funding expenditure. U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye will also be visiting the island in April, Kenoi said. The mayor said he plans to ask Inouye for funding for that last portion.
Several other things helped Nan and the county progress quickly and smoothly on the midlevel road work, Kenoi and construction officials said. One, collaborating with cultural partners helped head off some cultural concerns, Kenoi said.
Secondly, Leonard said, was how well the utility companies — Hawaii Electric Light Co., Hawaiian Telcom, Oceanic Time Warner Cable — cooperated with Nan when it came time to move utility lines.
“Historically, there have been a number of projects held up because of challenges getting utilities relocated,” Leonard said.
Kenoi said the project’s near-completion is the answer to doubts West Hawaii residents had when the project was announced in 2009.
“So many people said it’s not going to happen,” Kenoi said. “You’re reaching too far, too fast. We’re almost there. We’re one block away from building a whole new corridor.”