Posted by Nords Marilyn Lee responded with: I'll post the other responses when I get them (it's been less than a day). In 1998, the last time I saw an estimate to expand the Roosevelt Bridge to four lanes, it was $100M. I suspect that the price tag is probably 50% higher now-- and that doesn't include the inevitable surprises to be discovered from the last decade of deterioration. I think that trying to rebuild the bridge a lane at a time (or building a second span alongside) is fraught with danger, design risk, and cost overruns. I don't know whether it's easier/cheaper to start fresh at the end of Meheula & Paiwa but I think a third way to get to H-1 from Mililani is worth the analysis… especially if Roosevelt Bridge is permanently shut down by the next accident. What do you think? Write your representatives and the DoT at the following addresses: repyamane@Capitol.hawaii.gov Link: Accident closes Roosevelt Bridge through Kipapa Gulch
on 9/19/2006, 10:09 am
I've sent the following e-mail to Ryan Yamane, Marilyn Lee, & Scott Ishikawa:
"I think that the recent accident in Mililani's Kipapa Gulch on Kam Highway's Roosevelt Bridge will focus more attention on DoT's attempts to obtain funding for repairs or expansion. Monday morning a car cracked the southbound lane's concrete railing at the north end of the bridge. (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Sep/18/br/br1372805496.html) The crews worked hard for five or six hours but I can't tell if the repair is permanent or if another solution is being evaluated.
As the bridge's repairs become a funding discussion, it appears to be extremely labor-intensive & expensive to close a lane of Roosevelt Bridge while its span is rebuilt. Traffic control will be exasperatingly difficult and the road crews will face constant danger as they work alongside frazzled commuters.
However, a few hundred yards to the west, Mililani's Meheula Parkway terminates near Kipapa Gulch's north side not too far away from Waikele's Paiwa Street on the gulch's south side. It might be cheaper to acquire the necessary rights of way, build a new four-lane bridge to connect the two roads, and restore traffic flow through a third commuter route before tackling Roosevelt Bridge. With a Meheula-Paiwa bridge in place, Roosevelt Bridge could be completely demolished and rebuilt without attendant traffic or safety issues. The two bridges, built one at a time, might actually cost less money and time than the difficult & protracted challenge of rebuilding Roosevelt Bridge one lane at a time-- especially when labor and safety/liability expenses are considered.
I'm not a civil engineer-- just a map-reading tax-paying homeowner with a different perspective. I'd appreciate your consideration of this suggestion and its evaluation by the appropriate agencies. Thanks."
"Thanks for the update and sorry to hear about the bridge. Of course a new bridge has been needed for years and the huge cost of replacement has been the stumbling block. I sit on the OMPO (Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization) Policy committee and will bring this up for discussion at our meeting next week. The next question would probably be whether or not the Kipapa Gulch bridge would be eligible for Federal funds or not. Your suggestion is an interesting one and will no doubt generate discussion. Thank you for writing.
Aloha, Marilyn Lee"
replee@Capitol.hawaii.gov
scott.ishikawa@hawaii.gov
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