Work on the Pahoa roundabout project is proceeding faster than expected.
Work on the Pahoa roundabout project is proceeding faster than expected.
“We anticipate reopening the area to Keaau-bound traffic in April,” Hawaii Department of Transportation spokesman Timothy Sakahara said Friday in an email to the Tribune-Herald.
Since last December, the Pahoa Bypass Road has been closed in both directions between the Pahoa Marketplace and Kahaki Boulevard.
The remaining portion of the detour route will be in place through June.
Sakahara said that work was being expedited in order to reach an earlier completion date.
“Relatively dry winter conditions have helped keep construction moving forward,” he said.
A public meeting will be held in early April in Pahoa to discuss the project and the use of the new roundabout. A date and time has not yet been set.
Traffic flow in Pahoa has been significantly affected by the detour, which placed a temporary traffic signal at the corner of Kahaki and Pahoa Village Road in order to route drivers around the roundabout construction site. Backups at peak times have stretched to Makuu Drive, just under 3.5 miles from the traffic light.
Some called for opening up Railroad Avenue, an unpaved road running through Hawaiian Paradise Park that was completed during the June 27 lava flow in 2014. That course of action was complicated by Railroad’s status as an emergency route, meaning that federal collaboration would be needed to open it.
“We thank motorists for their patience as they work through the temporary detour and traffic signal changes in the area,” Sakahara said.
The Pahoa roundabout is located at the intersection of Highway 130 and Pahoa Village Road. The intersection was found to be one of the most dangerous in the state, prompting the DOT to begin construction of the Big Island’s first roundabout. The state-funded project has a $4.8 million budget. Isemoto Contracting, Inc. was awarded the project.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.