Drivers hoping to have a construction-free Komohana Street will have to wait until next year. ADVERTISING Drivers hoping to have a construction-free Komohana Street will have to wait until next year. Primary reconstruction work on the road will be complete
Drivers hoping to have a construction-free Komohana Street will have to wait until next year.
Primary reconstruction work on the road will be complete by the end of the year, according to a spokesman with Hawaii County Department of Public Works. Subcontract work that rounds out the project is expected to be complete by early 2017.
The Komohana project began in October of last year. It was initially set to be complete by February. Earlier this fall, during a Hawaii County Council committee meeting, public works director Warren Lee said contractor Yamada &Sons had been aiming for a late October finish.
The contractor has experienced both equipment malfunctions and rain delays since work began, but also pulled some equipment away to two sites where it was a subcontractor: the Hilo Drag Strip and the Pahoa District Park.
The drag strip and park are county Parks and Recreation projects, while Komohana Street falls under public works.
Yamada &Sons is one of two contractors in East Hawaii that can do paving work.
During the committee meeting, Lee said that prioritization of projects was left up to the contractor.
Yamada &Sons could not be reached for comment by press time.
The Komohana project is in the liquidated damage phase because it is behind schedule and is paying $1,000 per day to the county as a result. As of Nov. 10, liquidated damages totaled $87,000.
Still to be completed is reconstruction work between Puuhono Way and Waianuenue Avenue. Subcontract work includes traffic signal work at the intersection of Waianuenue and Ponahawai Street as well as striping, shoulder adjustments and guard rail adjustments.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
