The $100 million Queen Kaahumanu Highway widening project still has four to five months of environmental clearances and data collection that must be completed before work can begin, said Ed Sniffen, the deputy director of the state Highways Division, on Thursday.
The $100 million Queen Kaahumanu Highway widening project still has four to five months of environmental clearances and data collection that must be completed before work can begin, said Ed Sniffen, the deputy director of the state Highways Division, on Thursday.
“After that it’s just a grading permit from the county,” Sniffen said at a forum in Kailua-Kona sponsored by Community Enterprises.
The state Department of Transportation has begun conversations with contractor Goodfellow Bros., with a target to begin work on widening the highway in the fall and complete the project in two years, Sniffen said. The DOT plans to widen Queen Kaahumanu Highway from two lanes to four between Kealakehe Parkway and Kona International Airport.
In May, the DOT will be holding a public meeting in Kailua-Kona to solicit public feedback on existing bike lanes on the highway. The information will help the agency craft a consistent plan for bike lanes when the agency widens the highway to the north, Sniffen said.
“We want to be consistent all the way from Kona to Kawaihae,” Sniffen said.
A draft environmental assessment for the 10-mile extension of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway from Highway 190 down to the Queen Kaahumanu Highway will be completed in July, with the $100 million project going to design next year.
“The approach is to try to connect the two hubs, from the Hilo to Kona side,” Sniffen said.
Starting this month, the DOT will install larger stop signs, bubble strips and lighting at the intersection of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway and Highway 190 to address a half dozen recent incidences of cars failing to stop on the steep grade, skidding across 190 and hitting the makai-side guardrail.
On the Hilo end of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, realignment work between the six and 11 mile markers is going out to bid to make sure work can begin by the end of the year, Sniffen said.
A smaller but vital project to add turning lanes at the intersection of Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Kawaihae Road should break ground by the summer of 2016. The work that has been in the pipeline for years but stagnated with changing administration priorities and the discovery of historical sites, Sniffen said. The $1.5 million in work should help flush congestion from the intersection, he said.
At Kona International Airport, $70 million in work is set to begin in May 2016 to modernize the terminal. Set to be completed in 2018, the project will feature a centralized security checkpoint, a new baggage handling system and connectivity of the north and south holding rooms. The work will expand airport capacity while retaining the outdoor feel of the facility, said Chauncey Wong-Yuen, airports district manager for Hawaii Island.
A $56 million aircraft rescue firefighting training center suitable for use by multiple agencies will also break ground in May 2016, Wong-Yuen said. The project is funded by a $20 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, with the rest coming from the state.