MEDIA RELEASE

The public is advised that Hawaiian Telcom will be working on their overhead transmission lines, on Kīlauea Avenue, between Kekūanaō‘a Street and Aupuni Street, on Tuesday, September 15 through Thursday, September 17, 2009, weather permitting; between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Please contact Hawaiian Telcom for additional information.

View Severed Utility Pole in a larger map

A sedan rests under a severed utility pole on Kilauea Avenue. The accident shut-down the street on the Puna side near . Palai Street. Photography by Baron Sekiya/Hawaii247.org

A car severed a utility pole and snapped it in half early Friday evening (July 10). A friend of the car’s operator said the driver had just picked-up a family member at the airport and was headed in the Puna bound lane of Kilauea Avenue when the car hydroplaned in the rain and hit the pole. Both the driver and passenger of the vehicle did not need medical attention. There were no other vehicles involved, the car suffered extensive damage to the front end. Police initially shut down one lane of traffic but closed both lanes so repair crews could work on the pole and remove the vehicle.

Later in the evening two-way traffic was opened with both lanes being routed past HELCO crews replacing the broken pole.

The car could not be removed until HELCO crews removed a utililty pole on and hanging over the vehicle.

Extensive damage to the front end of the car that severed a utility pole on Kilauea Avenue.

MEDIA RELEASE

Motorists crossing the “4-mile” bridge on Kilauea Avenue adjacent to Haihai Street in South Hilo are advised the “yield” and right-of-way will be reversed as of Monday, according to the county Department of Public Works.

Currently, Puna-bound drivers yield to oncoming traffic. Once the reversal is in place, the Hilo-bound drivers will yield to oncoming traffic.

The reversal will prevent the congestion caused by south-bound vehicles waiting to cross the bridge and blocking the intersection of Haihai Street, preventing left turns both into Haihai from Kilauea and from Haihai onto Kilauea.

The road on the south side of the bridge has been widened four feet to give a wider lane to vehicles waiting at the new yield sign.

Construction signs will be posted on both sides of the bridge while county crews will change the signs and markings. The work is expected to be completed Monday.

—  Find out more: www.co.hawaii.hi.us, click on media releases and scroll to Public Works