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More pieces of Lahaina bypass completed

DOT renaming highway Route 3000

This map shows the two southern connections of the mauka Lahaina bypass and the makai Honoapiilani Highway. The connector at left is Kai Hele Ku Street and the curving section of Honoapiilani Highway at right is the Southern Connector Road. The southern terminus of the bypass, to be referred to as Route 3000, is shown at right. Courtesy of Hawaiian Dredging Co. website

The Maui News

Improvements continue at both ends of the Lahaina bypass, to be referred to for the time being as Route 3000, the state Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

At 3:30 p.m. today, the Southern Connector Road between Honoapiilani Highway and Route 3000 near the southern terminus will be open to traffic. Maalaea-bound traffic on Honoapiilani Highway now will be able to access Route 3000 via a free right-hand turn.

When Route 3000 opened April 23, Maalaea-bound traffic on Honoapiilani Highway was routed up Kai Hele Ku Street while improvements were completed. Kai Hele Ku Street also is the first access point for traffic going the other way seeking to use Honoapiilani Highway.

The other major change is the completion of the second left-turn lane for Maalaea-bound traffic on Honoapiilani Highway going onto Keawe Street, which is the northern terminus for Route 3000. It opened May 2.

Also, additional pavement markings for makai-bound traffic on Keawe Street connecting to Honoapiilani Highway were installed Wednesday, the department said. The delineators were needed because vehicles makai-bound on Keawe Street were stopping at the intersection instead of freely flowing onto Honoapiilani Highway. Residents said this was causing traffic to backup on Keawe Street.

Additional work continues at the southern terminus, which is expected to open in its final configuration on May 25.

Utility work at the southern terminus near “cut mountain” will require contraflow of traffic for about 30 minutes beginning at 10 a.m. today, the department said. The work involves removing a pole and fiber optic lines.

All Lahaina bound traffic now is diverted from Honoapiilani Highway — which has been severed at “cut mountain — to Route 3000 at the southern terminus. The department said that the traffic shift was needed to complete the Southern Connector Road and southern terminus tie-in and a drainage basin at the southern terminus.

That will be the last major work on Route 3000. Only landscaping and minor grading outside the shoulder lane of Route 3000 will be left to be completed, the department said.

When asked about traffic flow on Route 3000, department spokeswoman Shelly Kunishige said Thursday that the Maui Bus reported time savings of 10 to 12 minutes on the previously one-hour run.

The department said that the official name of the Lahaina bypass will be Route 3000 and the connection between Honoapiilani Highway and Route 3000, Southern Connector Road. Common names will be given to both highways, classified as principal arterials, in the future, the department said.

For maps and information on Route 3000, go to www.lahainabypass1b-2.com/index.php.

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