Reconstruction of Komohana Street is now expected to last more than a year. ADVERTISING Reconstruction of Komohana Street is now expected to last more than a year. Since work on the Hilo roadway began last October, equipment malfunctions and rain
Reconstruction of Komohana Street is now expected to last more than a year.
Since work on the Hilo roadway began last October, equipment malfunctions and rain delays have impacted the project, which is being completed by general contractor Yamada &Sons Inc.
But the contractor also pulled some equipment off Komohana to work on two other county projects — the Hilo Drag Strip and the Pahoa General Park — for which it is a subcontractor. Those projects fall under the county Parks and Recreation umbrella. Komohana Street is a Department of Public Works project.
Public Works Director Warren Lee and Deputy Director Brandon Gonzalez addressed the extended delay Wednesday afternoon during a County Council committee meeting at the request of Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung.
“I just wanted clarification from the department,” Chung said, adding that he has received several complaints from residents in District 2, which he represents, about safety concerns on Komohana. Hilo Councilman Dennis “Fresh” Onishi of District 3 said he also has heard concerns.
Reconstruction was initially set to be completed by February of this year. It is now on track to be finished by mid-October, Lee said.
He said there have been a total of 79 rainout days for the Komohana reconstruction project and that the initial asphalt concrete blend was “inoperable …. they couldn’t pave when we wanted them to.”
Yamada &Sons also had a malfunctioning cold planer (the machine that rips up old asphalt) and a malfunctioning paver, Lee said.
“The contractor ended up with only one paver to use, and they had a number of other jobs that (were) deemed critical with the County of Hawaii,” Lee said, referring to the drag strip and Pahoa park.
The contractor ultimately decides which project is more critical, Lee said.
There are only two contractors in East Hawaii that can do asphalt paving.
“We’ve asked them to expedite the work,” Lee said. “But, I think, contractually, how do you do that? Can you take the job away from them? We need very good justification, otherwise you get into further delays based on lawsuits.”
“In this case, we just say, ‘This is not the best we can do,’ but we’re just going to have to be patient, and hopefully no more equipment breaks down, and there’s no more weather issues,” he said.
Most concern from residents lies in the conditions created by the narrow road pattern at the site.
“One of those problems is during emergency times,” Chung said. “When the ambulance comes (then), they cannot get through.”
Because it is behind schedule, Komohana Street is now in the liquidated damages stage. Yamada &Sons is paying $1,000 a day to the county for each day of delay. If the project is completed in October, Lee said, the total will come to about $50,000.
The portions that remain incomplete are from Mohouli Street to Kukuau Street and Ponahawai Street to Waianuenue Avenue.
“They’re going to finish all that by October?” Onishi said.
Gonzalez said Yamada &Sons recently did roadwork on Kilauea Avenue, and “there were complications that arose, and they rose to every challenge.”
“I wish circumstances were better for Komohana,” he said.
Gonzalez said communication between the county and Yamada &Sons has been “constant.”
Addressing the delay also raised the issue of contract procurement. State law requires contracts go to the lowest bidder with no consideration of other factors.
“You don’t get ‘good guy’ points for behavior and effort in the past, and I feel that is harmful,” said Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, pointing to the example of the Ka‘u Gymnasium.
“We’ve been spending tons of money there to fix that up, where I think that if the procurement system had been better … . It’s an astronomical amount of money we’ve lost,” she said.
She acknowledged that a contractor grading system could easily lead to cronyism and that a balance was needed.
“It’s something that really should be taken into account, reviewing how that procurement system works,” Wille said.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
