Daytime road work scheduled for Kūhiō Highway

Motorists using Kūhiō Highway later this month will notice a change — state crews working during the day.

Daytime closures are planned beginning Oct. 17 on Kūhiō Highway between Kuamoʻo Road and the temporary Kapaʻa bypass road as work continues on an improvement project. The state Department of Transportation reported that the shift to daytime work is necessary because of the start of seabird fallout season.

Daytime work is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and will be organized into three northbound phases and two southbound phases:

• Northbound phase 1 (Oct. 17-18): Northbound lanes between Kuamoʻo Road and Haleilio Road will be closed. One southbound lane will be contra-flowed for drivers heading north. All northbound from Kuamoʻo and Haleilio shall be detoured south to Wailua Bridge and merge with the northbound traffic.
• Northbound phase 2 (Oct. 19-21 and 24): Northbound traffic will be detoured to the single-lane Papaloa Road. Drivers heading to Haleilio Road will be detoured via Papaloa Road and Lanikai Street and Kūhiō Highway. Lanikai Street will be contra-flowed and Papaloa Road south/west bound will be local traffic only between Lanikai Street and the southern intersection with Kūhiō Highway. All northbound traffic from Kuamoʻo and Haleilio shall be detoured south to Wailua Bridge and merge with the northbound traffic.
• Northbound phase 3 (Oct. 25-28 and Oct. 31-Nov. 3): Northbound Kūhiō Highway and Haleilio Road detour will remain the same as phase 2. Papaloa Road south/west bound will be local traffic only between Lanikai Street and the southern intersection with Kūhiō Highway. Lanikai Street will be restored to two lanes. All northbound from Kuamoʻo and Haleilio shall be detoured south to Wailua Bridge and merge with the northbound traffic.
• Southbound phase 1 (Nov. 4 and 7-10): Southbound traffic between Haleilio Road and Kuamoʻo Road will be contra-flowed in one of the northbound lanes on Kūhiō Highway. Papaloa Road south/west bound will be local traffic only between Lanikai Street and the southern intersection with Kūhiō Highway. Haleilio Road and Kuamoʻo Road connections to Kūhiō Highway will be modified. All northbound from Kuamoʻo and Haleilio shall be detoured south to Wailua Bridge and merge with the northbound traffic.
• Southbound phase 2 (Nov. 14-18): Southbound traffic between Haleilio Road and Kapaʻa Bypass will be contra-flowed in one of the northbound lanes on Kūhiō Highway. Northbound traffic will be detoured to the single-lane Papaloa Road. Drivers heading to Haleilio Road will be detoured via Papaloa Road and Lanikai Street and Kūhiō Highway. Papaloa Road south/west bound will be local traffic only between Lanikai Street and the southern intersection with Kūhiō Highway. Work will take place on the other half of the Haleilio Road and Kapaʻa Bypass connections to Kūhiō Highway. All northbound from Kuamoʻo and Haleilio shall be detoured south to Wailua Bridge and merge with the northbound traffic.

Dates for each phase are estimated and depend on production and weather. Weekly updates on scheduled roadwork will be provided in the state’s weekly lane closure notices.

The Kūhiō Highway southbound contraflow between the Kapaʻa temporary bypass road and Kapule Highway will be set up with the first cone down at 4:15 a.m. as normal. When daywork begins at 8 a.m., the contraflow lane will be picked up between the temporary Kapaʻa bypass and Wailua Bridge. Contraflow south of the bridge will be picked up at the scheduled time of 11 a.m. Monday through Friday. There will be no change to the Saturday contraflow hours.

There will be traffic control flaggers at the start and end of the detours and at all intersections within the work zone. The traffic control plan could be modified based on impacts to the traveling public.

Construction work began March 1, 2021, and is anticipated to be substantially complete by May 2023. The improvement project is designed to improve traffic congestion on Kūhiō Highway through the Kapaʻa-Wailua corridor by adding an additional southbound lane between Kuamoʻo Road and the temporary Kapaʻa bypass road.