State Sen. Lorraine Inouye on Friday said the state Department of Transportation is declaring the area of Hawaii Belt Road near Kolekole Bridge a “traffic emergency zone.”
“What that means is, they can do the work in a shorter period of time,” said Inouye, vice chairwoman of the Senate Transportation Committee, who represents the district where the bridge is located. “It also allows the department to use other sources of funding” instead of depending only on DOT’s budget, she said.
Inouye thanked Gov. David Ige and DOT officials for the declaration, which she said was made because “the structural engineer … determined the structure to be unsafe due to the advanced deterioration and advanced corrosion of various steel (trusses).”
“They are currently preparing the repairs to restore the integrity of the structure,” she said.