It begins: 5+ year Oahu road closures begin for rail project

[Short n Swift]

As of August 18, Nimitz Hwy is to be partially closed in one directions for at least 5 years, but knowing Hawaii infrastructure we can expect it to run until 2032 at the earliest. Work has already been done on replacing the traffic signals from 'Awa Drive and Bishop Street, as well as utility relocation on Dillingham Blvd, which is still not finished after over seven years now.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/08/18/nimitz-highway-see-24-hour-closures-through-2030/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/nimitz-lane-closures-intensify-evacuation-160600860.html

Some concerns are being raised revolving evacuations, especially after the tsunami threat that happened less than a month before construction began. Not only that, Dillingham is still a construction hell with a whole decade and counting of rail construction, it being a year away from finishing up utility relocation. All of this, apparently, is a "necessary evil", which I would agree with had it been finished in 2020 in the first place.

Prepare for countless delays, as I've seen from the current HDOT freeway projects, and prepare for it to never finish past Kaka'ako into Ala Moana, considering that the imaginary guideway seems to be interfering with a condo project.

This could be bad for commuters, but I personally believe the traffic effects are overblown.