Drivers prepare: Major roadwork projects coming in 2025

Yahoo

30-03-2025

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Oahu motorists, be prepared as major roadwork projects are already underway and others are set to begin in the coming months. Projects include a full closure of the H-1 Freeway at night and heavy traffic on Oahu's North Shore this summer.
Currently, projects are underway on the H-1 near the stadium and airport viaduct, which leaves one lane open on weekends. Hawaii Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen said those projects will go through July and August of 2025.
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Starting on April 1 crews will begin repaving battered Kamehameha Highway between Haleiwa and Waimea Bay with a single lane closure in either direction. Signs are posted warning drivers of lane closures between 8:30 p.m. and 4 a.m. on weekdays.
However, the contractors will only be allowed to do night work for one month.
'From May through mid-December we have turtle nesting season and fledgling bird season that doesn't allow us to do night work anymore, so we're going to have to do day-time work,' Sniffen said. 'That being said in that area, day time work could be significantly impactful to traffic.'The two-lane highway can be extremely congested in summer.
'If it's too bad, we'll pull off and wait until bird and turtle seasons end and start with night work again but we're definitely going to give it a try,' Sniffen added.
For now, the roughly six-mile repaving project is intended to be completed in December 2025. But Sniffen said if traffic is really bad, the repaving could be pushed back to December and go through May of next year when they are able to do night work.
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No lane closures on Kamehameha Highway will occur during weekends or holidays and at no time will there be both night and daytime work.
Additionally, more roadwork will be happening this summer and fall on the H-1 Freeway. Crews are currently working on adding a new lane from Ola Lane to the Kalihi interchange. A waterline placement will also soon happen under the freeway, including the widening the Gulick overpass.
The Gulick overpass bridge will be completely closed and crews need to build a temporary pedestrian bridge so nearby residents can commute easily to and from school and work.
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'The next major portion is getting the waterline under the H-1, then getting a pedestrian overpass over the H-1 is going to be starting in about September, during that time there is going to be closures overnight to ensure we can minimize the impacts to everybody,' Sniffen said.
The night time overpass work will require a full closure of the H-1 freeway at night.
Sniffen said major projects for neighbor islands this year include bridge repairs on the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii island, the Lahaina bypass extension on south Honoapiilani Highway moving away from the ocean, and roundabouts and repaving work on Kauai.
He encourages all residents to sign up for weekly lane closure announcements from the DOT website and to also download and follow any mobile traffic app which can show where roadwork is taking place.
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