HELCO had to cut the electricity to our house for a couple hours this afternoon. The electrician replaced the entire electrical box (e.g fuses, breakers, etc) during this time. Regular blog programing will return tomorrow. Please enjoy these roadway construction photos in the meantime.
Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company has nearly vacated their Kealakehe Parkway baseyard. The project manager, who is overseeing this closure, provided this update on their progress:
“Things are progressing as we work to move out by the end of the month. The silt fences may have to remain in place a little longer until we can have the State inspect the area and give us the OK for removal. A monthly inspection on the silt fences by HDOT normally occurs within the first week of each month. We will also be making arrangements to remove the concrete blocks, equipment and concrete barriers.”
The parties involved recent Hokuli’a/AMIC/Hawaii County settlement are still drafting and finalizing this agreement. The Court imposed a January 31st deadline to cross the t’s and dot the i’s, so it’s likely they may need more time.
There is no new updates regarding the condemnation of the Coupe parcel. The Court already granted the order of possession to Hawaii County though. The county is still in discussions with the Smith/Whitakers to acquire part of their land for this roadway.
Lastly, prospective bids for the Kaiminani Drive roadway improvements solicitation will be opened on February 16th, 2012.
Several individuals complained about the new concrete pavement on Palani Road here. They don’t like the rough concrete surface.
I did some research on these grooves. They’re concrete control joints. These joints help minimize the cracking of the concrete. Nevertheless, I sought out a second opinion regarding this issue. These longitudinal grooves help prevent hydroplaning during wet weather. However, this isn’t usually done on only a 7% grade roadway.
The new pavement is admittedly a bit rough, especially on the mauka bound lane, but its also a huge improvement over the old pothole riddled asphalt pavement.
Lastly, I believe the Queen Kaahumanu Highway phase II widening project won’t start in April 2012. I doubt Section 106 consultation process, which is addressing several archaeological sites within the right of way, will be completed by then.
This highway improvement project is critical to the Kona community and needs to move forward. We need to express this to the HDOT and the FHWA.
Traffic flow on or around the Henry Street/Palani Road intersection will be adjusted effective for the next two months. The first change, which involved closing the left turn lane at the top of Henry Street, was implemented Friday afternoon. Then Nan plans to close the mauka bound lane on Palani between Queen Kaahumanu Highway and Henry Street on Tuesday. These changes hopefully will ease the traffic congestion in this area.
The manager, who is overseeing the Palani water transmission project provided this update regarding the incomplete fencing around the new Palani Road water tank.
“I spoke to the contractor this morning and he let me know he is working on getting a fencing sub-contractor out there to finish the fencing. He said it should be installed by the end of next month but could possibly be done within two weeks. I met with the contractor’s representative at the site last Thursday and we developed a check list of items that needed to be done before the project could be given final approval. The fencing was one of the primary items we discussed.”
I’m very unhappy with the recent changes to the West Hawaii Today website. For starters, I couldn’t access any archived article published in 2011- until tonight. On top of that, their older archives (before May 16, 2011) is only accessible if you pay.
I spoke to assistant Corporation Counsel Katherine Garson, who is overseeing the La’aloa Avenue extension condemnations, this week. The second condemnation lawsuit was filed with the Court late last week. However, they haven’t processed the filing yet. I’ll hopefully follow-up with her next week.
Lastly, Steve Dunnington made several irritating comments at the recent island economic summit meeting.
“Steve Dunnington, a developer whose projects include DW Aina Lea, questioned whether education was the right focus of the job creation discussion.
“This isn’t an immediate help to sort of fix the economy,” Dunnington said. “It’s long-term, long-range. As far as things happening to change the current economic situation? Make Hawaii more business friendly.”
Mr. Dunnington really needs to look in the mirror before he starts complaining. The problems facing his latest project, The Villages at Aina Le’a, can be traced back to insufficient financing, not Hawaii’s business climate.
Traffic has significantly increased on Palani Road since Nan removed the left turn lane at the Henry Street intersection on Tuesday. There is simply not enough room to include a left turn here until they complete the water line connection on the right side of the roadway.
The county’s project manager, who is overseeing construction of this roadway, he’d look into possible solutions, which include asking Nan to expedite the completion of the water line connection, to mitigate this issue.
Nan’s project manager suggested drivers use alternative routes, such as Hina-Lani or Manawalea Streets.
The Kamaka’eha Avenue/Palani Road intersection is slated for closure until February 18th, 2012, so I would presume the new lanes won’t be completed for at least another month.
Construction on the new Pier One Imports store has begun. Tinguely Development is renovating the old Ross Dress For Less space at Kona Coast Shopping Center.
Councilman Dominic Yagong recently announced his candidacy for Hawaii County Mayor. Mayor Kenoi has astutely guided Hawaii County over the past three years, so he has my vote for mayor. I have serious doubts about Councilman Yagong’s ability to run this county effectively.
Lastly, the new Saddle Road Nene fencing between m.m 29 and m.m 30.1 should be completed by next week.
Nan opened the new Ka’u side lanes on Palani Road today. Robert Bothman Construction, Nan’s concrete paving subcontractor, did a great job constructing this new roadway.
Robert Bothman Construction is slated to begin slip form concrete paving tomorrow morning from the West Hawaii Civic Center towards the Henry Street intersection.
Gomaco slip form concrete paving machine
Lastly, the manager overseeing the Palamanui College roadway project recently provided this project update:
“Regarding the Collector Road project, KKCC will finish the HELCO underground package in the next 2 weeks, which will allow HELCO to complete the cutover to the new poles on the south side of Kaiminani. This will allow us to complete the intersection work and begin installing the base on the Collector Road.”
He also told me Urban Works, the architect firm who is designing the future Palamanui Campus, is diligently working to meet the design deadlines, so the UH could apply for building permits by next month.
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