Hawaii Department of Transportation officials faced a frustrated crowd Thursday evening during a meeting at the Pahoa Community Center to update Puna residents on the construction status of the roundabout at the intersection of Highway 130 and Pahoa Village Road.
More than 150 people attended the meeting that was scheduled in advance but took place during a week when traffic delays at the site were severe. On Monday, one resident reported a backup of about 5 miles. On Wednesday, construction equipment malfunctions led to delays that, according to another attendee, lasted more than a half-hour.
Residents also expressed long-term concerns about area infrastructure, most notably Puna’s need for a secondary access road to Highway 11.
State transportation deputy director Ed Sniffen fielded questions and comments, many of which had a sarcastic tone, from the crowd before the meeting broke into a series of presentations about the final stages of roundabout construction.
The roads will be fully open May 20, said state highways division engineer Robert Lee.
A portion of the roundabout is expected to be opened Monday to Keaau-bound traffic. The second phase will open in about two weeks, weather permitting.
The $4.8 million state-funded project began construction in October under local contractor Isemoto Contracting. A detour route opened at the roundabout site in December, with a temporary traffic signal installed at the intersection of Kahaki Boulevard and Pahoa Village Road.
The roundabout has been planned since 2011 and initially was scheduled to break ground in 2014. That was postponed because of the June 27 lava flow.
The Highway 130 intersection is one of the deadliest in the state, according to a DOT study that found 40 major accidents at the site between 2004 and 2007.
Sniffen was asked if the roundabout would alleviate or exacerbate problems at the intersection, and he answered that it would definitely alleviate safety concerns.
“Are you betting?” asked one attendee.
Others chimed in to note that roundabouts in New Zealand, Canada and other locations work well and are easy to use. About a third of the audience, according to an informal tally taken by Sniffen, already had experience using one.
One person asked why crews weren’t working at night to complete the project.
“On the east side of the island, when we pave at night, we cannot predict the weather,” Lee said. “We did (work at night) many, many years ago in Keaau town, and we got rained on.” Asphalt had to be thrown away as a result, he said.
Sniffen said Isemoto Contracting was working an additional two hours per day as well as Saturdays to expedite the project, which initially had a July completion date.
Some residents wondered why Railroad Avenue, an emergency road made of compacted gravel, was not opened when the detour was to ease traffic.
County Councilman Greggor Ilagan, who attended the meeting along with fellow Councilman Daniel Paleka and state Sen. Russell Ruderman, D-Puna, said doing so would compromise the federal funding source used to create the emergency route. Railroad also crosses over several different properties, whose owners would all need to sign off for its opening.
For most, the delays caused by the detour had brought to light the need for another route in and out of Pahoa.
“Whatever you can do to convey to the state authorities that people here really feel like they’re neglected,” one woman said to Sniffen.
“(The roundabout) is going to be fun to watch the first day or two, and then it’s going to seem like it was always there,” Ruderman told attendees, pointing out that the DOT was there specifically to discuss the immediate future of the intersection. “I hope we can all recognize that the roundabout in and of itself will be an improvement.”
“It does not take away our desperate need for a secondary access road,” he said.
Pahoa resident Holly Johnson said after the meeting that many people’s frustrations were particularly high given the bad traffic week. She found the breakouts and posters useful for visualizing the work yet to be completed.
“I like that there are three phases (remaining) — short phases,” Johnson said. “So that was good.”
“Really, we still need a second highway,” she said, pointing out that some 30,000 people live in the area and an emergency route was needed.
“It’s an abomination,” said fellow resident Lily Oshiyama.
But regarding the roundabout itself, Oshiyama wasn’t worried.
“People are nervous about it,” she acknowledged. Oshiyama said she used to live in Guam, where a roundabout has been in place for years. “It’s not like they don’t have these in the Pacific.”
To view current traffic conditions at the roundabout construction site, visit punatraffic.com.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
