Palani Road/Henry Street Intersection Utility Conduit Trenching Update

Oceanic Time Warner Cable may increase the speed of the neighbor island Road Runner standard tier from 5Mbps to 10Mbps in August instead of late 2011, according to this e-mail from Oceanic:

“Aaron,

Work is underway to add the capacity needed. We may be prepared for the increase by August, but if we have to limit the areas in any way the increase will still happen before November.”

Road and Highway Builders LLC couldn’t resume paving last Monday due to unfavorable weather conditions on Saddle Road.  However, they were able to resume paving last Tuesday.

I spoke to the manager overseeing the mid-level road project on Monday. He may have an update on the relocation of Hawaiian Telcom/Oceanic Time Warner cables by the time I talk to him next Wednesday.

CTS Earthmoving and Nan Inc.’s traffic control plan for the initial Palani Road utility conduit trenching is working out very well. Vehicular traffic is moving smoothly on Palani Road and at the Queen Kaahumanu Highway/ Henry Street intersection.

He also provided an update regarding this construction work:

“Due to unforeseen underground conditions (pipes buried in unexpected locations), our excavation work is proceeding more slowly than planned. We just communicated with the County DPW that there is need to extend the road closure – pushing the opening back to the second or third week of July.”

Lastly, the anti-Mauna Kea telescope activists strike again. They believe the Thirty Meter Telescope Corporation has foolishly spent a lot of money on their Mauna Kea telescope project.

I believe TMT will pay dividends for the Big Island. This facility secures Mauna Kea’s reputation as the world’s preeminent astronomy location, provides much-needed and well paying jobs (instead of more low paying retail jobs), and help diversify our island’s economy away from depending on the construction and tourism industries.