The proverb goes: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Well, the roads to/from Kailua, Kaneohe, Salt Lake, Hawaii Kai, and downtown (King Street, Beretania) haven’t been paved with very good stuff for years, let alone good intentions.
A recent Star-Advertiser editorial noted that the Pali Highway is being repaved with stone matrix asphalt (SMA), a longer-lasting solution than the Silly Putty previously used repeatedly. The editorial also mentioned that SMA was first “experimented with” on Moanalua Highway with great success- in 2004! 15-years and untold re-alignments later, and we’re just now designating this proven mix for high-traffic areas like the Pali?! Some have suggested that repaving is just a government/union plot to keep pavers re-paving, but that’s too cynical… I hope.
A knowledgeable, forthright Department of Transportation administrator told me that SMA is great, but its strength makes it harder to remove than other asphalt mixtures, so it can’t reasonably be used on streets with aging, underground infrastructure (water, sewer, electricity). So I asked why this magic mix hasn’t been selectively used more often over the last 15 years, since it works. Ahhh… apparently, the state and the City of Honolulu didn’t traditionally collaborate with one another or the asphalt gurus to realize the best prices, equipment needs, and economy of scale solutions.
While cheaper material is readily available, the results last for a shorter term. Perhaps egos, power trips, installation costs, budget concerns, and/or jurisdictional, territorial garbage got in the way, but SMA simply hasn’t been used on high volume roads here since 2004.
Some local government officials tout how many miles have been re-paved annually, rather than focus on more permanent fixes on problem roads. My neighborhood had zero road quality issues, yet was recently repaved. A “Think About It” reader told me that the same thing happened in her pristine Pearl City neighborhood; relatively needless work that pads the annual statistics.
But now that the city (Beretania, King, Kapi`olani, Salt Lake, etc.) and the state (Pali, Likelike, Farrington, Kalanianaole, Nimitz, etc.) are working closer together with asphalt companies on low-, medium-, and high-volume asphalt answers, repair costs should come down; we’ll see fewer potholes and less repair redundancy, leading to a better future for vehicles traveling on Oahu’s busiest thoroughfares. Think about it…
This story originally appeared in the December 11, 2019 Midweek.