Work to begin on Pahoa roundabout

After years of planning and months of lava-related postponement, construction work on a roundabout at one of the most dangerous intersections in the county is set to begin in August.

The $4.8 million state-funded project in Pahoa has been in the works since 2011, when the roundabout was first proposed as a solution to the high traffic accident rate at the intersection of Highway 130 and Pahoa Village Road. A state Department of Transportation study reported 40 major accidents between 2004 and 2007.

“This particular (project) was a little bit more critical,” state Sen. Lorraine Inouye told Hawaii Tribune-Herald on Friday. Inouye is the chair of the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee, and is one of several state and local officials who will attend a public informational meeting about the roundabout on Wednesday.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Pahoa Community Center. Representatives and engineers from DOT will also attend, along with project contractor Isemoto.

Construction work will begin at the site on Aug. 10 and is expected to last 180 working days, or about 9 months, Inouye said.

Work was initially slated for last summer, but was delayed after the June 27 lava flow. Inouye said that because of the long delay, some thought the project had died entirely.

Though the roundabout is intended to improve traffic in Pahoa, there has also been concern that drivers will be slow to adjust.

“It’s not going to work in Pahoa,” resident Steve Sugar said. “People don’t (even) stop at the stop signs.” He predicted that fatalities would go down, but there would be more fender-benders.

Inouye acknowledged that the roundabout would require drivers to adjust.

“It’ll be new,” she said. Inouye drives on a roundabout daily while in Honolulu for the legislative session. “(It) slows traffic,” she said. “It won’t be confusing once they get used it it; traffic will continue to flow.”

E-mail Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.