Fix It! Temporary Road Plates Are Still Rattling Drivers Six Years Later
Installed after a 2019 gas leak, steel plates on Kalākaua Avenue are to be removed soon — after yet another delay.
The 40-foot stretch of road plates on Kalākaua Avenue mauka of the Hawaiʻi Convention Center has been rattling teeth and tire rims since 2019.
The ¾ inch steel plates, which each weigh up to 1,500 pounds, were installed as a temporary solution but have become a longstanding feature of the busy roadway.
“I have traveled that lane by bike nearly daily for years, and I avoid the steel plates by staying in the driveway lane until I’m past the ‘speed bump’ posed by the plates,” Fix It! tipster Jonathan Lott told Civil Beat.
Lott knows a thing or two about roads. He has just retired as a civil engineer with the state Department of Transportation and is now active with the Hawaiʻi Bicycling League.
The plates are as slick as glass in the rain — creating a hazard not just for cyclists, but anyone on wheels, he said. What’s taking so long?
Six Years Ago …
It turns out that the plates were placed there by Hawaiʻi Gas.
“Roughly six years ago,” Hawaiʻi Gas communications director Maggie Engebretson wrote in an email, “we identified and secured a gas leak from a corroded pipeline on Kalākaua Avenue, which intersected a City and County drain.”
The plates, which the company leases, were laid after the repair, she said.
Since then, Hawaiʻi Gas been working with the Honolulu planning and permitting and the facility Maintenance departments on plans to relocate the utility gas line to the east side of Kalākaua Avenue. (Smaller road plates mark the spot there.)
Last month, finally, the permit came through, and Hawaiʻi Gas plans to resume work on the project later in March. The company is targeting a completion date in early June.
“It was a multi-phase process with a lot of different moving parts and multiple approvals required (including an engineering study), which did contribute to the length of the project,” Engebretson said.
The relocation project includes three phases: lowering an existing line on Kalākaua Avenue and Kapiʻolani Boulevard to comply with city requirements; tying in the Kalākaua Avenue and Kapiʻolani Boulevard lines; and deactivating the original line.
Provided that it all goes to plan, the road plates could be removed by June.
Or maybe a little later.
Honolulu’s Department of Design and Construction is repaving Kapiʻolani Boulevard from Atkinson Drive to Harding Avenue and expects to be finished by late April or early May, said spokesperson Cindy Cromwell.
To minimize traffic disruptions, the Hawaiʻi Gas project on Kalākaua Avenue may be postponed until DDC’s repaving work is done, Cromwell said.
Engebretson said Hawaiʻi Gas would coordinate with the city’s contractor. She thanked the community for its patience.
Despite the hazards the plates present to cyclists, Lott said it’s OK with him if they are around a bit longer. “The good thing about them is they act as a speed bump, so most local drivers slow down as they go over them — tourists in rental cars hit the plates way too fast.”
Who To Contact
Hawaiʻi Gas Communications Director Maggie Engebretson said questions could be directed to the company’s O’ahu Customer Service team at (808) 535-5933.
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