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.
