FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                October 10, 2005

Release No. ENV-30

SINKHOLE WORK WILL CLOSE WARD AVENUE MAKAI-BOUND

Both makai-bound lanes of Ward Avenue between Kinau and Beretania streets will be closed from 9 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, October 11, 2005) to 5 a.m. Wednesday to allow workers to try to determine what caused a sinkhole there last week.

Motorists are urged to use caution in the area. Makai-bound traffic might be diverted down a mauka-bound lane of Ward Avenue or detoured to Victoria Street, depending on traffic, said officials of the City Department of Environmental Services.

The closure will allow a contractor to take core samples from the soil under Ward Avenue in the vicinity of an underground sewer main. Environmental Services officials suspect a cavity has developed near the main.

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Contact:

Bill Brennan, 527-6928

Mark Matsunaga, 527-5767