A county Public Works official believes the long-delayed construction project on Kalanianaole Avenue finally will be finished this year.
At a Tuesday meeting of the Hawaii County Council’s Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit, council members discussed with Public Works Deputy Director Steve Pause the Kalanianaole improvement project, which began in 2018 and remains unfinished.
Pause told the committee that Public Works will issue a bid package for the remainder of the project by February, and will hopefully have a new contractor signed on by April. The county terminated its contract with the previous contractor on the project, Goodfellow Bros., in early December after months of only intermittent work on the road.
In the interim, Pause said, the county has used its emergency procurement to award contractor Jas W. Glover Ltd. a $930,000 contract to maintain the construction site, including filling potholes, repainting road stripes and more.
Pause said there is not much work left to do on the project, adding that the main delay at this point is going through the county’s procurement process and soliciting bids for the new contractor.
Hawaii County Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance said she does not know if Goodfellow Bros. is or can be excluded from the bidding process after having its previous contract terminated.
In the midst of the update Tuesday, Kohala Councilman Tim Richards bluntly asked Pause when he believes the project can be completed.
Pause said he believes the project “ought to be done this calendar year.”
“You have my word that we will see this thing through,” Pause told the committee.
Since the project began in 2018, a portion of the primary artery between Keaukaha and the rest of Hilo has been reduced to a single lane of traffic.
Keaukaha residents who testified Tuesday criticized the council and the Department of Public Works for how protracted the project has become.
Resident Floyd Eaglin called the DPW “broken,” while Keaukaha Community Association President Pat Kahawaioloaa said the county’s neglect of Keaukaha is indicative of a “racist” public policy.
Tuesday’s discussion was previously scheduled to take place under executive session, unviewable by the public, by Strance said that level of discussion was premature. Instead, she recommended that another update take place in a few weeks after the county has moved through its procurement process.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.