The Hawaii County Council Public Works and Parks and Recreation Committee on Tuesday discussed plans for upgrading several of downtown Hilo’s aging streets, particularly Waianuenue Avenue.
“They’ve been in disrepair for many years,” said Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung. “I think people know that if you’ve driven there. It’s getting worse every day.”
“We’re heading for the budget, and we’ve got to do something about it,” he added.
Public Works Director Frank DeMarco told council members that two categories of projects were in the works: one that would be a federal State Transportation Improvement Program initiative and another that would be a county-only initiative.
The county project involves using a method called cold planing to remove the surface of the roadway before repaving it. The process also creates wider shoulders on the road.
The county does not have a cold planer of its own and will contract out to either Grace Pacific LLC or Jas W. Glover Ltd. for the work. The bid has not yet been awarded.
“We come back and pave it,” said Neil Azevedo of the DPW’s Highway Maintenance Division.
The work is expected to cost about $200,000 to complete the section of Waianuenue between Kamehameha Avenue and Kapiolani Street.
The second stretch of road that will be cold planed is Waianuenue between Kapiolani and Kaumana Drive. That work will cost about $320,000 and will be done in the same manner, with an outside contractor doing the cold planing and the county doing paving in-house.
DeMarco did not have a timeline for when work would begin, since the bids are not complete, but said when it does begin it will take place at night to avoid disrupting the heavy downtown traffic.
The estimated timetable for completion of the Kamehameha-Kapiolani work is about two weeks, weather permitting.
Once complete, the repaving will extend the life of the road for about 10 to 12 years.
STIP projects, which are more intensive and costly, extend the life of the road by about 20 to 30 years. These projects are done in partnership with the state Department of Transportation, using federal funds as well as county resources.
The county planned to use STIP to reconstruct the upper portion of Waianuenue Avenue, but the status of that plan, expected to cost about $12.5 million, was unclear at the meeting.
Deputy Public Works Director Allan Simeon said he would check with a county engineer for an update.
Chung also asked for clarification regarding why a Waianuenue cold planing effort would take less time than the ongoing Komohana reconstruction work, which began in October 2015 and is still incomplete.
Azevedo said that for the Komohana work, contractor crews dug down nearly 2 feet to reconstruct the roadway, as compared to cold planing several inches off the road and repaving, as will be done on Waianuenue.
A full reconstruction of Waianuenue also is planned for a new STIP submittal, with the future repaving intended to tide the county over until that project is approved and funded.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
