Pahoa roundabout construction coming soon

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There is no firm start date yet, but drivers can expect to encounter roundabout construction in Pahoa by October, said Salvador Panem, state Department of Transportation’s Hawaii Island district manager.

There is no firm start date yet, but drivers can expect to encounter roundabout construction in Pahoa by October, said Salvador Panem, state Department of Transportation’s Hawaii Island district manager.

The $4.8 million project includes the construction of a traffic circle at the intersection of Highway 130 and Pahoa Village Road.

The roundabout would be the first on a state highway on the Big Island. Construction, to be done by Isemeoto Contracting Co., is expected to last about nine months.

A shoulder conversion project on the highway from about the Keaau bypass to Shower Drive is ongoing, and expected to be finished in May, Panem said.

The rest of the highway up to Pahoa will be widened as part of another project. According to the state’s draft transportation improvement program for fiscal years 2015-18, that work is expected to begin in fiscal year 2018, though that is subject to change.

A traffic signal at Shower Drive also will be installed as part of a separate phase, which will possibly occur in fiscal year 2016.

Fiscal years start Oct. 1.