FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  August 17, 2005

Release No. M-57

SALT LAKE BOULEVARD WIDENING PHASE 2A OPENS FOR TRAFFIC

            Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced that four lanes of Salt Lake Boulevard between Bougainville Drive and Maluna Street were opened to traffic today (Wednesday, August 17).

            Work on phase 2A of the Salt Lake Boulevard widening is nearing completion, allowing contractor Goodfellow Bros., Inc., to open all four lanes.

“Traffic is a major impediment to our quality of life, and completion of this project helps ease traffic congestion,” said the mayor. “This is the kind of short-term, immediate traffic relief that we are seeking in addition to longer-term solutions.”

City Councilman Romy Cachola, whose district includes the project area, said the widening of Salt Lake Boulevard has been a community priority since 1983. “I would like to thank the community and the neighborhood board for their persistence and patience, as well as the administration and previous councilmembers for their work on the project,” Cachola said.

Phase 2A expanded Salt Lake Boulevard between Bougainville Drive and Maluna Sreet from two lanes to four lanes. The project cost roughly $21 million. The federal government is paying for about 80 percent of the costs.

The project began in 2002 and work was delayed for a number of reasons, including the discovery of buried containers that had to be treated as hazardous waste.

Work has begun on an environmental assessment for the next phase, which would provide four lanes for the current two-lane stretch of the boulevard from Maluna Street to Ala Lilikoi at the entrance to Salt Lake.

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Contact:

               Wayne Hashiro, Director, Department of Design and Construction, 523-4564