Honolulu Roadwork on Pali Highway Only Seems Endless

State transportation officials postponed its completion due to inclement weather.

Driver’s view of Pali Highway roadwork. Photo Credit: Robbie Dingeman

If you’ve traveled along Pali Highway over the past five years, you might feel like this Honolulu roadwork project is just permanently part of the drive to and from the Windward side. Sometimes, there are crews working during the day, sometimes at night, and sometimes multiple lanes are closed. And there are hours of traffic smoothly flowing over the uneven lanes.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation feels our Honolulu roadwork pain. Officials sent out an update an mid-March saying that crews had been unable to work for 103 days because of the lousy weather.

That means that the resurfacing project, which runs from Vineyard Boulevard to Kamehameha Highway, had to be extended. The date for “substantial completion” has been revised to September 2023. Of course, after the February 2019 landslide closed the highway and prompted Pali roadwork for months, this year’s closed lanes and detours seem less dire.

Expect the finished work to include paving, installation of traffic signal detectors, new curbing, pavement markings and signs. There are also plans for safety improvements to be included in this work at the intersection of Wyllie Street and Nuʻuanu Avenue. Drivers can also inspect reinstallation of those raised crosswalks along this stretch, but that went away when the current work began.

Delineators will be placed on the Wylie Street offramp to reinforce the no U-turn restriction at Nuʻuanu Avenue, the curb radius will be reduced on Wyllie Street to enhance pedestrian visibility, and a raised speed table will be installed on Nuʻuanu Avenue (approaching the intersection from Pali Highway), according to the update, with permanent changes completed by September

In case there are further changes, click on the project website. A weekly list of road closures that include Pali Highway can be found here. Here’s to better road conditions for crews and commuters.