PRINCEVILLE — Dodging potholes in paradise. Motorists across the island are growing weary of swerving their vehicles around holes in the highway. Despite heavy machinery appearing on the North Shore nearly three months ago, little has reportedly been done since
PRINCEVILLE — Dodging potholes in paradise.
Motorists across the island are growing weary of swerving their vehicles around holes in the highway. Despite heavy machinery appearing on the North Shore nearly three months ago, little has reportedly been done since then to alleviate bumpy road conditions.
Inclement weather is to blame for the delay, said Ray McCormick, the state Department of Transportation’s district engineer for Kaua‘i.
Although the “final paving stage” has been reached, the contractor experienced “several rain days with heavy passing showers” and has been unable to place the wearing surface, he said.
“Although the wet conditions do not last the entire day, they typically occur during the morning hours, at which time the contractor is required to decide if paving work can or cannot occur due to the anticipated weather,” McCormick said.
Only a portion of the highway just outside the Princeville entrance appears to have undergone any work, residents said, while resurfacing is expected to occur on Kuhio Highway all the way from Princeville to ‘Anini Vista Drive by an unknown date. The project is expected to cost taxpayers some $3.53 million.
“There have been some delays between the project scoping, design and construction award,” McCormick said, Thursday.
The contractor “mobilized their equipment to the project site on or about the 20th of June,” he said, and erosion control and sign installation work was reportedly completed by the end of June.
The June 3 article in The Garden Island entitled “Road repairs cause summer traffic” notes that some of the equipment for the road work near Princeville had already arrived. The story also provides the full list of road projects for the summer.
Road reconstruction commenced in the beginning of July in an effort “to give the public proper notice” via signs, newspaper and radio announcements, McCormick said.
Since then, on-site conditions and weather forecasts have been used in an attempt to “best anticipate” if the project site will be affected.
“In the case where the weather forecast predicted extended periods of wet weather in the project area, the contractor uses that info to schedule other work where the weather forecast predicted less wet weather,” he said.
For example, if rainy conditions are predicted for the Princeville area, the contractor will decide to hone in on the Wailua-Kapa‘a area if lighter showers and sunnier weather is more likely there.
Until the project’s deferment is lifted, drivers will have to continue escaping bumps and craters in the obstacle-course road, particularly by the Prince Clubhouse and Princeville airport — a section of the highway slated to be resurfaced — though occasional patch-work jobs to temporarily remedy the situation are expected.
McCormick writes that during the weekend of Aug. 15, some potholes “opened up due to rainy conditions.”
“These potholes were identified on Monday morning and repaired later that afternoon,” he said. “HDOT is monitoring the area to ensure that should any potholes arise, they are quickly mitigated.”
County officials did not respond to questions seeking comment on whether the county would be able to assist in pushing state highway projects to completion.
“In short, rain and wet weather create the worst conditions for paving projects,” McCormick said. “Asphalt pavement does not perform well when placed on wet sub-surfaces. It delaminates from the sub-surface, creating potholes, making paving in the rain not desirable.”
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
