WAILUA — Completion of the new Wailua Cane Haul Bridge Widening Project will greatly improve the quality of life for Kaua‘i residents and enhance our visitors’ experience by helping to relieve traffic congestion along Kuhio Highway, according to the state
WAILUA — Completion of the new Wailua Cane Haul Bridge Widening Project will greatly improve the quality of life for Kaua‘i residents and enhance our visitors’ experience by helping to relieve traffic congestion along Kuhio Highway, according to the state Department of Transportation.
But on Tuesday, the day that Mayor Bryan Baptiste Memorial Bridge was dedicated, it was a different story. A long line of slow-moving cars southbound on Kaumuali‘i Highway greeted guests and dignitaries to the bridge’s dedication.
A North Shore resident who works in Lihu‘e said she spent more than 30 minutes sitting on the Kapa‘a Bypass Road.
The massive traffic jam also affected those who didn’t have to go through the bridge.
“It took me 45 minutes from the ABC Store in Kapa‘a to get to the Whaler’s General Store in the Coconut Marketplace,” said a store supervisor.
Throughout the day, motorists sat in traffic, one radio station advising motorists to stay out of the area until Thursday, because of ongoing work on the bridge.
The day before the bridge’s dedication, Associated Press published a story stating that the new bridge should relieve traffic between Lihu‘e and Kapa‘a.
DOT Deputy Director Ford Fuchigami said the Wailua corridor serviced by the bridge is one of the busiest corridor in the system, servicing about 43 percent of motorists located north of the Wailua River.
The $29 million project added a separated pedestrian and bicycle path across the Wailua River, with the federal government funding about 80 percent of the project, and the state funding the remaining 20 percent.
While work was being performed, preventative maintenance work was also completed on the existing Wailua River Bridge and on infrastructure in the area to minimize traffic impacts to motorists.
Fuchigami said the second phase of the project — widening the roadway from Kuamo‘o Road to the Kapa‘a Bypass Road — will start next year, and is a critical step toward removing a major traffic bottleneck in the area.
When the second phase is completed, motorists will spend significantly less time traveling between Lihu‘e, Kapa‘a and other points north, the dedication program states.
Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz said that during its busiest time, there are about 35,600 cars being serviced in the area.
“When the project is completed, it will improve the lives of residents and visitors, reducing the amount of time people spend in traffic,” Schatz said. “It will save people gas and give them more time with their families.”
Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said the bridge represents connecting people together, speaking about the time he spent with the late Baptiste, whose personal interest in the project kept dogging government leaders.
“It is symbolic the bridge is being dedicated to Baptiste,” Schatz said. “His aloha and goodwill built bridges between peoples.”
Carvalho said Baptiste’s administration was about bridges and connecting between communities, people, cultures, and the young and old.
The bridge was aptly named Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste Memorial Bridge and emblazoned with “Aloha Begins With Me” on plaques strategically placed on the crossing. The bridge’s name selection was done during the project’s groundbreaking on June 23, 2009.
Annette Baptiste, the late mayor’s widow, said the project was just one of the many Baptiste had on his drawing board.
“There were times when he did not know the meaning of ‘no,’” she said. “He would persist until he got a satisfactory answer. The completion of this phase of the project makes us very happy and we are very proud to have a bridge named after him.”
Jay Manzano, president of Unlimited Construction, the project’s contractor, said it took almost two years of construction work to get to the dedication.
“But the majority of the work was done by Kaua‘i workers and the mayor’s vision created jobs during the economic downturn,” Manzano said. “People worked and this helped pay the rent and buy food.”
The project reflects years of close cooperation between the federal, state and county governments, said Abraham Wong, division administrator, Hawai‘i Federal-Aid Division, Federal Highway Administration.
“Mayor Baptiste had the skill to bring people together,” Wong said. “We want to thank the people for being so patient.”
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
