A 2-year-long project to improve Kilauea Avenue in Hilo is expected to begin this spring.
Planned to begin by April 3, the project will rehabilitate Kilauea Avenue and Keawe Street between Ponahawai Street and Waianuenue Avenue by repaving the roadway, installing new sidewalks and ADA-compliant curb ramps, restriping and more, along with associated water and sewer infrastructure updates.
“We’re hoping that some facets of the Multimodal Master Plan can get worked into the design, as well,” said Hilo Councilwoman Jenn Kagiwada, whose district includes the relevant sections of road.
The Downtown Hilo Multimodal Master Plan was a 2018 proposal to improve downtown Hilo by making changes to traffic flow, parking and infrastructure. At least some aspects of that plan will be part of the rehabilitation project — the road restriping will add bike lanes and improve pedestrian crosswalks — but other aspects included additional parking options and installing roundabouts at several places downtown.
“If we can’t implement everything from the multimodal plan, I hope we can still leave room to implement them in the future,” Kagiwada said. “So we could just add more things on top of what we already have, instead of having to remove things again.”
According to a statement from Public Works spokeswoman Sherise Kana‘e-Kane, the project is estimated to be completed by August 2025. During the intervening two years, parts of the road will be closed one lane and one block at a time.
“Closure of the intersections will be necessary, but when one is closed, the adjacent intersections will be open to traffic,” Kana‘e-Kane said via email, adding that contractor Jas W. Glover Inc. has applied for night work permits to minimize impacts to local businesses and commuters.
Kana‘e-Kane said the county will pay 20% of the project’s full $12.3 million price tag, which comes out to roughly $2.45 million. The remaining 80% will be paid for with federal funds administered by the state Department of Transportation.
Members of the public are invited to attend a meeting about the project on Feb. 23. Kagiwada said the meeting will help inform residents about the impacts caused by the work, but also will allow residents to suggest improvements and aspects of the multimodal plan worth adopting.
“We don’t want it to go like Waianuenue Avenue,” Kagiwada said, referring to a rehabilitation project that took place last year and received criticism from council members for not including certain improvements, like bike lanes. “We don’t want to end up in a place where we have to add these things to the project at the last minute.”
The community meeting will run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Aupuni Center Conference Room. The meeting will be in-person only.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.