Board of Water Supply Construction - Nanakuli Avenue

[NOTE: Honolulu Board of Water Supply is supposed to keep our office updated on the possible use of the WCEAR after they meet with C&C DTS. Also, as far as how long this project will take -- the contractor is working a Monday through Friday schedule from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They need to work Monday through Friday near Nanakuli Avenue in order to finish the work and move away from Nanakuli Avenue before the start of the fall school semester.

BWS scheduled this portion of the project after the fall school session ended on June 9, 2009. The entire Part 1, Phase A project from Haleakala Avenue to Black Rock is expected to be completed by January 2010.

Work for Phase B will begin in January 2010 between Black Rock and Aliinui Drive. This project will be done at night (non-residential area) and should be completed in March of 2011. The Phase 1 project from Aliinui Drive to the Old Farrington Highway Intersection should be complete by July 2009. BWS and their contractors will all work to stay on schedule and will notify our office and the community if there are any major changes to the schedule.

Click HERE for more detailed project information.]




From: BWS Communications
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:00 PM
To: Colleen Young; Moani Wright-Van Alst; Communications


Aloha Colleen,

Moani is out of the office attending a training session, so I’m responding on her behalf. We sincerely apologize for the traffic inconvenience this project is causing. As you know, this project is essential to ensuring continued access to safe and dependable water supply for the Leeward Coast.

The Board of Water Supply (BWS) understands how frustrating it is for people who have to drive through the construction areas, which is why we are continuing to try and adjust our plans to help alleviate some of he traffic impact. We are implementing contraflow at this time. However, we can only provide one east-bound and one west-bound lane.

The current work to replace a 24” transmission main requires the closure of both east-bound lanes of Farrington Highway near Nanakuli Avenue.

Based on our initial evaluation, it is not feasible to utilize the emergency bridge at this time because the current work zone is adjacent to the bridge access.

We have made contact and are planning to meet with the City's Department of Transportation Services (DTS) to further evaluate the possibility of using portions of the Waianae Coast Emergency Access Road to help ease traffic. As always, public and traffic safety concerns must be weighed in the evaluation of this alternative and as such, there is no guarantee that this traffic option will be permitted.

We have also investigated the option of working at night and have discussed this alternative with the Waianae and Nanakuli Neighborhood Boards. However, the areas that require two-lane closures require "hoe-ramming," an extremely loud procedure (louder than jack-hammering). This activity is not permitted after 10 p.m. in residential areas (near Nanakuli Avenue). This would only allow our contractor to work two hours a night (from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.). This limitation would require additional day work for such noise-related activities, thereby further delaying the completion of the project, while also increasing the overall cost of the project.

We apologize for the traffic inconvenience resulting from our water system improvement project. We will continue to keep the community apprised of our project schedule and sincerely appreciate their input and continued suggestions for mitigating the current traffic impacts.

Thank you for your continued patience.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

CONTACT INFORMATION: (808) 748-5730 contactus@hbws.org