A major street running through Honolulu will be the focus of road repair crews for a nearly two-month project starting tomorrow.

The City is calling it “first-aid pavement repair” work — and it will be underway every weekday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. It will take place along nearly the entire length of Kapiolani Boulevard — from Ward Avenue to University Avenue — a roughly two-mile stretch.

Ross Sasamura, director and chief engineer of the city’s Facility Maintenance Department, says this work comes in advance of a larger-scale, permanent resurfacing project.

“Our department will be conducting some spot repairs, to pavement areas that are distressed, that have created some issues for motorists, and we’re providing these temporary repairs in advance of permanent repairs that we anticipate beginning next year in 2020.”

Some of the work will be small-scale, like pot-hole filling, while other work will strip the top few inches of road surface and replace it with a new layer of asphalt.

City officials are asking drivers to avoid the area, if possible — but some say — it’s not possible.

Arantxa Medina, McCully resident, says, “We don’t have a choice. This is the only way we get to work. so this is all we’ve got.”

David Todd, Kaimuki resident, says Kapiolani needs fixing. “It needs it. yeah, I mean, I use this road every day and, it definitely needs it. I’m willing to work with it.”

Patie Dunaway, a McCully resident, has been riding the bus for decades and describes the ride along Kapiolani Boulevard as “Very bumpy. I feel sorry for the ones older than me, they hang on, you know. But I guess in time, they’ll have that all straightened out, I hope.”

Projects like this one are coordinated in advance at monthly meetings involving many agencies.

Sasamura says one object of the meetings is to keep each other informed.

“Part of it too, is to try to understand what everybody’s needs are, organizationally, and try to consolidate the work so that we minimize disruptions to the public and do one job all at once and then restore the pavement as quickly as we can.”

The project was started during Spring Break, when it would have less impact on traffic. The target date for completion is May 10 — just in time for University of Hawaii graduation the next day and 24 hours later — Mother’s Day.

