PAHOA — The final phase of the Pahoa roundabout project opened Monday, marking the end of a much-maligned detour route and the beginning of new traffic patterns in the area.
“It’s a little early to tell, but it’s getting better,” said Steve Baker of Paradise Business Center, located in the Pahoa Marketplace. “People are still trying to get used to it.”
Baker travels to work via Kahakai Boulevard, where some construction is still taking place. A portion of Pahoa Village Road at the entrance to the marketplace is also still under construction.
Signs along Highway 130 notify motorists of the new roundabout and warn drivers to slow down before entering it. There is still confusion about right-of-way and yield, Baker said, adding that more signs might be necessary to help people figure out roundabout etiquette.
“There are people who are in the roundabout and letting people come in when they’re supposed to just exit and not stop in the roundabout,” said Hawaii County Council member Greggor Ilagan, who represents a portion of Puna.
“There’s a lot of aloha on this island, and that’s what we do — we let people in,” Ilagan said. But that does not help traffic flow, which depends on people moving through the roundabout without stopping.
On Thursday afternoon, incoming drivers slowly merged into the roundabout circle. A short line of north-bound cars on Highway 130 waited to enter.
“It’s definitely not a traffic improvement,” Baker said. “It might be an accident improvement.”
Saisyn Weber of Hawaiian Beaches said she felt the construction had helped safety.
Because Pahoa is growing and traffic continues to increase in the area, “it needed to be done,” Weber said.
Ilagan said that roundabout updates on his office’s Facebook page were some of the most popular posts. The most recent, regarding the May 23 opening, was shared 66 times and featured a number of comments protesting the roundabout. Others said the early complications were mostly because drivers are still on a learning curve.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation began planning the roundabout in 2011 on the heels of a study that found the Highway 130 intersection was one of the deadliest in the state.
Groundbreaking on the $4.8 million project was postponed in 2014 because of the June 27 lava flow, and work officially began last October. In December, a detour route opened that sent drivers through a temporary traffic signal at the intersection of Kahakai and Pahoa Village Road.
The detour led to significant traffic delays during peak commute times such as morning and afternoon rush hour and school dismissals.