Cruz Vina Jr. is eager to use the newly widened section of H-1 Freeway near Pearl City, which he believes will not only save time but will make his commute home safer.

Vina, a Pearl City Neighborhood Board member and basketball referee, said the 1 1/2-mile extension of the far right lane — to be opened this morning — should reduce the number of freeway lane changes for motorists trying to reach the Pearl City/Waimalu offramp, a situation that led him to alter his route to his Waiau Gardens home.

"To avoid crossovers, I took Kamehameha Highway," Vina said. "Crossing over three lanes was too long and dangerous. The extension gives more time to cross over, so I'm looking forward to it. It'll save me 10 minutes and it's safer.

"I've been waiting 18 months for this, and I think the wait will be worth it."

State Department of Transportation officials today will open the widened section following a 9:30 a.m. blessing. Kiewit Pacific Co. was the contractor for the $60 million project, which began in June 2004.

An estimated 220,000 vehicles use that stretch of freeway each day, officials have said.

The project extended the sixth westbound lane, which previously ended near the H-1 Freeway's Kaonohi Street overpass, to the Pearl City/Waimalu offramp. It also added a standard road shoulder for emergencies.

Now the freeway's two right lanes lead to the Pearl City offramp.

State officials stress that the new far right lane is an exit-only lane. They want motorists to be aware of that, because under the previous configuration drivers in the far right lane had the option of taking the offramp or staying on the freeway.

Drivers in the second lane from the right are now the ones with the option of taking the offramp or staying on the freeway.

Much of the construction took place on an elevated section of the freeway, which presented technical challenges and affected people living in the Waimalu Gardens neighborhood below.

Seven families and a church in Waimalu Gardens were displaced to make room for the project.

"We'd like to thank the public for their patience during the work, particularly the Waimalu residents living below the H-1 viaduct," said state transportation director Rod Haraga. "With the extra freeway lane, this will hopefully alleviate the traffic bottleneck in that area."

But state Rep. Mark Takai, D-34th (Newtown, Waiau, Pearl City, Waimalu), who saw the project evolve from a suggestion in November 1996 to use the shoulder as a sixth lane to its current form, yesterday said commuters who will benefit from the freeway widening "should take pause and reflect that this project did not come without much pain."

"From my perspective, this has been one of the most difficult projects," Takai said. "It's really taken 10 years to do."

Some Waimalu Gardens residents say their concerns about safety and noise still have not been addressed.

"The main thing for us is debris coming over the bridge," said Juanita Rabanal, a Waimalu Gardens homeowner who lives on Ponohale Street. "Accidents happen. We've had a bumper coming over and landing in the vacant lot behind my house. Now it's closer, so it's even more spooky."

Rabanal said that during the construction period, her house often shook, the noise level sometimes sounded like "a bomb going off" and tiles cracked in her home.

"We don't have air conditioning and there's no breeze, so the dust is bad," Rabanal said. "We had to buy a dryer because I can't hang clothes outside anymore. We paid a price for this and it's not doing us no good because we won't use it. We use Kamehameha Highway because the offramp is past our house."

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.