Smoother travels ahead: Resurfacing planned for Hina Lani Street; work starts Jan. 18

It’ll be a smoother ride on Hina Lani Street this year with over half of the mauka-makai connector road slated for resurfacing.

Some 1.9 miles of the 3.6-mile roadway that connects Queen Kaahumanu and Mamalahoa highways is set to be resurfaced as part of the project that recently got the green light from the Hawaii County Department of Public Works with the issuance of a notice to proceed on Dec. 5, 2022, to contractor Grace Pacific.

Grace Pacific LLC’s $2.15 million bid was the lowest offered by the three bidders for the three-part project. Isemoto Contracting Co. Ltd. submitted the highest bid at over $2.8 million while Jas W. Glover Ltd. said it could do the job for $2.55 million.

Crews are tentatively set to begin work on the ground on Jan. 18, with crews working from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, weather permitting. No work is allowed on weekends or holidays.

During active work, traffic will be reduced to one lane with police officers directing traffic, though a trained flagger may be used in the event law enforcement personnel is unavailable for the special service project.

The project entails removing and replacing 3 inches of asphalt within the driving lanes of Hina Lani Street. Some areas of the heavily traveled road, which is still slated for a $22 million rehabilitation project, will go untouched during the work.

Stretches of Hina Lani Street slated for repaving under the current project are from Mamalahoa Highway to just above Kahakea Place; from the upper end of the proposed Kaloko Heights Affordable Housing Project to a point mauka of Hina Lani Street’s intersection with Ane Keohokalole Highway; and from just below Ane Keohokalole Highway to Kamanu Street.

Hawaii County officials did not respond with additional information regarding the project as of press-time.