All lanes on a nearly one-mile section of H-1 Freeway between 'Ewa and Kapolei will close for construction for six months starting June 9, a move that will affect more than 100,000 motorists who drive to and from West O'ahu and the Leeward Coast daily and send them onto a temporary bypass.

Drivers on the three lanes heading in each direction will be diverted to three newly built lanes along each side of the freeway for 4,500 feet and then get back on the freeway, said Alex Oshiro, the state Department of Transportation's resident engineer for the interchange project.

Motorists won't need to stop, but the speed limit will be reduced from 60 mph to 50 mph, Oshiro said.

"We don't have a choice," said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa, adding this is the first time the state has orchestrated such a large bypass project. "We can't afford to shut down the only freeway heading into town, so we needed to create a bypass."

He also said the shutdown isn't expected to have a major impact on traffic.

The closure will allow workers to tear down and reconstruct a bridge that will pave the way for the future North-South Road, which is expected to dramatically alleviate some of the island's worst traffic congestion when it's completed in late 2009.

Public officials say the H-1 closure is a necessary evil.

But for some West O'ahu residents, the thought of closing the primary artery to the burgeoning Kapolei area and the entire Wai'anae Coast — even with the bypass — is enough to send shudders down their spines.

"It will be a mess," said Jeff Alexander, a member of the 'Ewa Neighborhood Board. "They've got to find a way to do it without having to shut it (the freeway) down."

Even those hoping for the best were keeping their fingers crossed.

"We've been assured by DOT we're not going to lose any lanes, that they don't see the bypass really increasing our traffic problems," said Sen. Mike Gabbard, D-19th (Kapolei, Makakilo, Waikele). "I hope that's the way it's going to play out."

A NEW ALTERNATIVE

Begun in February 2005, the $136 million, 2.5-mile North-South Road will connect near Ewa Villages with Kapolei Parkway.

That will create a new access onto the freeway for 'Ewa and Kapolei residents, which is expected to take pressure off the traffic on the heavily used Fort Weaver and Fort Barrette roads. It also is expected to ease the bottlenecks at the Kunia-'Ewa and Makakilo-Kapolei interchanges.

Federal funds are covering a majority of the costs for the six-lane road.

The North-South project is expected to wrap up by the end of 2009, while the work that's triggering the closure of the freeway will be completed by December 2008, the DOT said.

DOT officials estimate about 105,800 vehicles use that stretch of H-1 daily.

Residents who travel on the section had mixed reactions to the planned shutdown.

"I don't like the reduction in speed," said Mike Golojuch, who heads the transportation committee of the Makakilo/Kapolei /Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board. "But we have to have the North-South Road in."

Golojuch, who lives in Maka-kilo and drives to Downtown Honolulu for work on weekdays, said residents were initially told the freeway would be shut down for three months, but also were told only one lane would be open each way during construction.

He said the new plan is better, but he still expects slowdowns.

"If they can keep it three lanes, that's good," he said. "It sounds like a better plan, but people are going to have slow up because they'll have to angle off."

But Alexander, of the 'Ewa Neighborhood Board, is bracing for the worst.

Despite DOT assurances that the bypass will result in only minor inconvenience, he said even small changes to the traffic pattern spur big backups in West O'ahu.

"Everything they've ever told us has always been wrong," he said.

SOME GETTING USED TO

Elected officials and other community stakeholders who belong to the 'Ewa Transportation Coalition learned about the rerouting last week during a field trip related to the North-South Road project. The state is expected to make a presentation on the bypass plan before the 'Ewa Neighborhood Board next month, Alexander said.

City Councilman Todd Apo, who leads the coalition, said it might take drivers a few days "to get used to (the change)." But, he added, once they do, traffic is expected to flow smoothly.

"It should be just a little bit longer distance and nothing more than that," he said.

Nanakuli resident Amy Jodar, however, said the North-South Road won't help her commute and worries it will just make it worse for motorists coming from Wai'anae.

Jodar said for Leeward Coast residents, the bigger concern is that vehicles have only one way, Farrington Highway, in and out of the region.

She noted that Farrington has been shut down entirely for long stretches twice in the past two weeks — once after after high winds snapped utility poles and dropped them onto the highway, and again after a water main break.

"I got stuck in traffic so many times," said Jodar, an education specialist at O'ahu Community Correctional Center. "I would like (government officials) to consider looking for a solution, an alternative route to coming in and out of Wai'anae. The thing is there is no other way for us to get out of that place."

Golojuch said his only concern is how the bypass might affect an ever-worsening morning bottleneck on H-1 town-bound just before the Kunia-'Ewa exit. About two years ago, DOT officials took away one of the three lanes approaching the Kunia interchange to accommodate vehicles coming onto the freeway from the Kunia-'Ewa onramp. The bypass is just a ways beyond that.

Gabbard said he is talking with DOT officials about that situation.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com and Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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