It’s well signposted and doesn’t look all that bad, but crossing over the bump and dip at a gentle curve on southbound Kamehameha Highway near Kualoa Regional Park is not pleasant. A 30-inch water main broke there Jan. 17, was repaired the next day and, a day later, the road buckled.

Motorists who drive the area consider it a safety hazard.

“It is extremely dangerous,” Nancy Morgan, who travels the road daily, said in an email.  “Many people speed in this section and a driver could easily lose control when hitting it at higher speeds.”

For now, orange traffic cones and signs — “25 MPH,” “BUMP,” “SLOW” and “DIP” — warn of the conditions ahead. It’s stuck in a bit of bureaucratic limbo: Before repairs can be made, a change in the existing paving contract underway at the time of the break has to be completed and approved by the procurement department, said Board of Water Supply spokesperson Kathleen Elliott-Pahinui.

Permits also have to be obtained, said Elliott-Pahinui, who described the bump and dip as “comparable to a standard traffic-calming hump.”

Perhaps, but those are not the words that come to mind for Kristina Pascua, who for the past two weeks has been providing security for a film production at the Kualoa Maintenance Yard. She said what she has observed with vehicles on the road just a few hundred feet away from her post is at times alarming.

“Sometimes they’re racing along and you can hear, ‘boom.’ It sounds like an accident but it’s just them launching and then hitting the ground,” she said. “And sometimes they go into the other lane to avoid it.”

Right after Pascua said that, a sedan swerved across the solid yellow center line to avoid the damaged road.

There is no estimated date for the repair to take place, Elliott-Pahinui said, adding that the location is inspected daily to ensure the safety measures are in place and effective.

Who Can Be Contacted?

Wayne Tello, acting program administrator for field operations, Honolulu Board of Water Supply, 808-748-5041.

Residents can also submit reports online at honoluluhi.citysourced.com; by email at complaints@honolulu.gov; by phone at 808-768-4381; or through the free Honolulu 311 app.

Update: Faded Crosswalks Repainted

On Dec. 25, Civil Beat wrote about a pair of badly faded crosswalks on a busy stretch of Monsarrat Avenue. The Honolulu Department of Transportation Services said rainy weather and a water main replacement project were delaying the repainting job. 

On Dec. 31, crews repainted both crosswalks. That has made it much easier for oncoming motorists to see them and slow down in a timely fashion, lessening the hazards to pedestrians in the area, including parents and children coming and going from nearby Waikīkī Elementary School.

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