WAILUA — Staking for construction of both a new Wailua Beach parking lot and a retaining wall that is part of the old cane-haul-bridge widening project could have alarmed some residents who may have thought it was for construction of
WAILUA — Staking for construction of both a new Wailua Beach parking lot and a retaining wall that is part of the old cane-haul-bridge widening project could have alarmed some residents who may have thought it was for construction of the county’s coastal path, said a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman.
Due to that possible concern, the state ordered contractors not to work on the Kapa‘a side of the Wailua River on Monday, said Tammy Mori, state DOT spokeswoman.
“On June 28, 2010 the contractor began placing wooden stakes to delineate the crushed-coral parking lot that is located on the Kapa‘a side of the bridge,” she said in an e-mail.
“This work was incorporated in the plans of the bridge-widening project and is necessary because the existing parking lot entrance off of Kuhio Highway needs to be reconstructed,” she said.
“Also the contractor began placing stakes for the new retaining walls that are required along the Kapa‘a side of the bridge. The stakes may have raised some concerns because it looks to be the start of construction on the multi-use path, which is not the case,” she said.
“All of the ongoing construction work is part of the DOT’s cane-haul-bridge-widening project.
“However, as a result of these concerns that were raised the DOT directed the contractor not to perform work on the Kapa‘a side of the bridge on June 29, 2010,” she said.
“This was done so that the DOT could re-verify that all of the federal, state and local requirements and permits were being met. After thorough review, the information revealed that all requirements had been met for the Wailua cane-haul-bridge-widening project,” she said.
“Once this was completed the contractor was allowed to begin work again today, June 30, 2010.
The Wailua cane-bridge widening project is scheduled to be completed in early 2011, she said. The new prefabricated bridge is on island and is ready to be installed.
As soon as the drilled shaft supports are completed in July the new bridge will be installed.
The new, prefabricated bridge will have two, 12-foot travel lanes for motor vehicles and an eight-foot path on the makai side for pedestrians and bicyclists, said Mori.
The county’s multi-use path project is not yet under construction and it has not been advertised for construction.
However, there may be some confusion between the multi-use path and the bridge-widening project because of the eight-foot path that is part of the bridge, Mori said.
The project is separate and the path along the bridge is necessary so that pedestrians and bicyclists using the bridge will have a safe place to travel over the Wailua River, she said.
Currently pedestrians and cyclists must use the narrow shoulder and sidewalks on the existing Wailua River bridge. Since the path is located on the bridge, it is necessary for DOT’s contractor to install retaining walls along the edge of the bridge.
The cane-haul-bridge project is also a separate project from the future highway-widening project, Mori said.
That project will add one lane of traffic to the mauka side of Kuhio Highway from the Kapa‘a temporary bypass road to Kuamo‘o Road.
It will also include the undergrounding of the utility lines from the Kapa‘a temporary bypass to the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative Lydgate substation.
The highway-widening project is still going through the environmental process and its construction date has not yet been determined, she said.
