Tateishi served as the general engineering consultant for HDOT during the construction of H-3. The only way to complete a project of this magnitude and complexity is through partnership, said Herb Tateishi of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas Inc. The final alignment accommodates a flood control project and the expansion of a park, and it avoids historic agricultural terraces and specific Halawa Valley sites considered culturally significant by some native Hawaiians. The freeway had to be rerouted several times before the actual construction could begin. Environmental studies were conducted for the project over a period of 20 years, and, if the reports were stacked one on top of the other, the stack would be more than a meter high! 1 The proposed project was the first in Hawaii to require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), following the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Some 37 years later, the highway was completed through the Halawa Valley at a cost of $1.3 billion.ĭescending from the windward side of the Koolau Mountain, motorists on H-3 have a spectacular view of Kaneohe Bay. H-3 was originally envisioned as a six-lane highway through the Moanalua Valley at a cost of $250 million. H-3, along with H-1 and H-2, was authorized by the Statehood Act of 1960 with funds coming from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). H-3, the largest and most expensive public works project ever completed in Hawaii, has a long and volatile history. (The "Second City" concept combines residential, commercial, academic and governmental facilities in a planned community that is being developed to relieve congestion in the primary urban center of Honolulu.) H-3 also supports planned development in the central and western parts of Oahu - specifically, the planned "Second City" of Kapolei. These mountains run across Oahu between the windward (east) and leeward (west and south) sides. For example, it gives relief from the tight curves and steep grades of the two other highways that cross the Koolau ("koh' oh lou") Mountains. In addition to the defense-access purpose, the highway provides much-needed safety and capacity improvements for the traveling public as a whole. The administrator of the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) Highways Division, Perry Manthos, responds by saying, "It is actually a road to two somewheres."Īnd indeed, the freeway serves several worthwhile purposes. Some have criticized H-3 as a "road to nowhere" because they believe that the military applications are not as relevant today as when the freeway was first conceived and because the highway does not connect directly to downtown Honolulu. H-3 links the Pearl Harbor Naval Base/Hickam Air Force Base complex on the south side of the island near Honolulu and the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station on the east coast. The Interstate Highway System is actually a system of interstate and defense-access highways. You are not alone if you are asking, "How can there be an interstate highway on an island?" In the past year, people as professionally and geographically diverse as a schoolteacher in Virginia and a country-western disc jockey in San Francisco asked me that question. H-3, 37 years "in the making," was officially opened on Dec.12, 1997. One truly spectacular accomplishment is the completion of the Interstate H-3 freeway on the island of Oahu. While Hawaii takes pride in these natural wonders, we are also proud of our human achievements. Hawaii, America's 50th state, is known around the world for gentle trade winds and tropical beauty.
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