The long awaited rehabilitation project for Waikoloa Road will begin with shoulder work on Monday.
In an April community meeting to learn the details of the planned paving of the road that transverses Waikoloa Village from Mamalahoa Highway to Queen Kaahumanu Highway, an anticipated start date of May 4 was announced.
Dan Weisgerber, Project Manager at Goodfellow Brothers said preliminary work did commence on that date.
“We have started. Because you do not see work it doesn’t mean we’re not working,” he said. “There was a requirement by the county that the contractor provide an original grade topo and we’ve been working on that.”
Goodfellow Brothers was awarded the $25,689,605 contract to pave and widen the road to 45 feet shoulder to shoulder.
On Monday, shoulder work will begin, which will not impact traffic. Weisgerber anticipates that work to extend the width of the road will take approximately one month. Crews will begin work at 7 a.m. and wrap up at 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Once the shoulder widening is complete, paving will begin.
The first phase of the project is slated to begin at Mamalahoa Highway extending near the intersection with Paniolo Drive. Paving will then start below Paniolo Drive to Queen Kaahumanu Highway with the intersection at the village to subsequently becoming a roundabout.
The rehabilitation will consist of taking out 2.5 inches of existing pavement and replacing it with 4.5 inches of new pavement.
The project has beed dubbed a “take out and put back” endeavor. There will not be any improvements made to the road other than widening and repaving the approximately 11 mile stretch.
Pavement torn up will be repurposed for shoulder improvement.
During the paving process, there will be contra flow traffic from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Weisgerber said per the contract, the project is to be complete by April 22, 2024.
The proposed roundabout at the intersection of Waikoloa Road and Paniolo has been a point of contention in the community, however as of the April meeting, the Department of Public Works was still working on the original design, although negotiations are still underway with a landowner who is going through bankruptcy and an Environmental Assessment needs to be complete until final drafts for the intersection can be completed. As of press time Friday, DPW did not provide an update on the status of the project.
In October, the county added calming devices such as flashing stop signs, flashing intersection warning signs, speed tables, road markings and zig-zag striping to the busy South Kohala intersection.
The nearly $26 million price tag is being funded 80% by the federal government and 20% by the county.