AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Highway honolulu traffic before today10/5/2023 Plans to upgrade the western terminus at Aiea to an interchange with the Kamehameha Highway were approved in the late 1950s. The widened Fort Shafter section of the Moanalua Highway was opened in September 1960, featuring an interchange at E Street and several overpasses. Construction began in June 1959 under a $1.46-million (equivalent to $10.5 million in 2021 ) contract awarded to Hawaiian Dredging and Construction. With funding from the territorial highway department and approval of the US Army, several facilities at Fort Shafter were relocated to new buildings in 1958 and the former Tripler Army Hospital was demolished in May 1959 to make way for the project. The remaining section of the original Moanalua Road, bisecting Fort Shafter, was upgraded to a divided highway in the second phase and end at an interchange with the Lunalilo Freeway (also part of H-1). The road was designated as part of Route 72 in 1955. The westernmost 2.7 miles (4.3 km) of the divided highway was dedicated and opened to traffic on April 28, 1954. The project, which would reduce the number of curves on the road from 24 to 6, was also meant to connect with the Mauka Arterial (now part of H-1) and relieve congestion on the Kamehameha Highway near Pearl Harbor. The territorial government began preliminary construction of a four-lane divided highway to replace Moanalua Road in 1948, following the opening of the new Tripler Army Hospital. It was repaired in the 1910s, following the establishment of Fort Shafter, and plans were announced to straighten sections of the road in 1921. The road was macadamized in 1899 but remained in poor condition for several years, prompting calls to prioritize its improvement for tourists. Moanalua Road, the direct predecessor to H-201, was an unpaved road constructed in the late 19th century to connect Honolulu's King Street to Aiea. Letters in H-201 shields require thinner text, such as on signage like this one. History H-201 eastbound approaching exit 3 in Moanalua. Traffic volumes on the highway, measured in terms of annual average daily traffic, ranged in 2020 from a minimum of 19,800 vehicles at its western terminus to a maximum of 136,100 vehicles near H-3. H-201 is generally six to eight lanes wide with an eastbound high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane during the morning rush hour from Halawa to Puuloa Road. The freeway is maintained by the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) and is designated as part of the National Highway System, a network of strategic highways in the US. H-201 then terminates on the south side of Fort Shafter at an interchange with H-1, which continues southeast towards Downtown Honolulu on the Lunalilo Freeway. The freeway continues southeast, passing Moanalua Gardens and an industrial area, before it bisects Fort Shafter, a military installation in the Kalihi valley. H-201 turns southeast to avoid Red Hill and travels through Moanalua, a residential neighborhood with hospitals operated by Kaiser Permanente, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and the US Army (including Tripler Army Medical Center). H-201 and H-3 briefly run parallel to each other through Halawa, where the former intersects Kahuapaani Street, before H-3 splits to continue northeast across the Koʻolau Range. The freeway travels east through an interchange with H-1, which continues west toward Kapolei and south to Daniel K. It begins at a junction with Route 99 on the north side of Aloha Stadium, located near Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam. H-201 serves as an alternate route to H-1 near Downtown Honolulu, traveling on the Moanalua Freeway around the northeast side of Salt Lake. The section of the Moanalua Freeway between Route 99 (Kamehameha Highway) and the western H-1 interchange remains designated as Route 78. The 4.1-mile-long (6.6 km) loop route connects exits 13 and 19 on H-1, passing Fort Shafter, Tripler Army Medical Center, and the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility.ĭespite being designated an Interstate in 1989, until mid-2004, the route was an unsigned Interstate, signed only as Route 78. Interstate H-201 (named the Moanalua Freeway) is the only auxiliary Interstate Highway located outside the contiguous United States, serving the island of Oʻahu in the US state of Hawaii.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |