Queen Kaahumanu Highway construction stalled on red tape

KAILUA-KONA — Thousands of motorists on Queen Kaahumanu Highway who watched rapid progression of the highway’s widening project are likely wondering why they’ve seen lines of earthmovers parked over the past couple of weeks.

The project has indeed run into a slowdown, the contractor and state Department of Transportation confirmed on Wednesday.

That’s due to waiting for the state to sign off on a redesign of a southerly portion of the roadway. The design had been changed to avoid historical sites at the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. The change required a shrinking of the median and placement of a retaining wall.

While the redesign was in the works for some time, the necessary approvals have lagged.

The issues surrounding the design approvals have been resolved, and Goodfellow Bros. Inc. is on track to resume installing temporary traffic signals on Monday, project manager Ed Brown said. He is working with the state on ways to make up time lost since the slowdown began on March 18.

“We’ve been working closely with the state to get these issue resolved — quickly,” Brown said.

Work on traffic signals, culvert head walls, drainage wells, sewer lines and street lights will follow as soon as the contractor can obtain the necessary material, according to Goodfellow. The slowdown isn’t expected to affect the planned September 2017 completion date for the $100 million widening project.

Crews wrapped up the grubbing and mass grading on the 5.2-mile stretch in January, and had been working on water, sewer and drainage infrastructure this past month.

The first stages of the job involve constructing the lanes on the makai side of the roadway, where new asphalt is expected to allow vehicle travel starting in August. The existing highway will then be resurfaced. Final surfacing of the makai lanes is slated for May 2017.