Interstate H-1

Route description

H-1 begins near the Campbell Industrial Park in the town of Kapolei. West of this point, Route 93 (Farrington Highway) continues toward Waianae. The freeway continues east, passing the community of Makakilo until reaching the junction with Route 750 (north to Kunia Camp) and Route 76 (south to ʻEwa Beach).

H-1 then continues along the northern edge of Waipahu approximately 3 mi until its junction with H-2. It then continues east through the towns of Pearl City and Aiea for approximately 5 mi to the complex Halawa Interchange, where it meets H-3 and H-201. The highway then turns south for 2 mi, then east soon after the exits for Hickam Air Force Base and Pearl Harbor. At this point, the highway runs along a viaduct above Route 92 (Nimitz Highway), passing to the north of Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

2 mi past the airport exit, three lanes exit the freeway at exit 18A to join Nimitz Highway toward Waikiki, while, half a mile (0.5 mi) later, the remaining two lanes make a sharp turn south as H-1 reaches another major interchange with the east end of H-201. Access is provided by a left exit from H-1 east only. H-1 west does not have access to H-201 at this point.

From here, H-1 runs through the city of Honolulu along a series of underpasses and viaducts. A flyover interchange leading to Downtown Honolulu has a westbound exit and an eastbound entrance. H-1 ends in the Kāhala district of Honolulu near Kahala Mall, where Route 72 (Kalanianaole Highway) ends.

During morning commute hours on weekdays, an eastbound contraflow express lane is deployed from just east of exit 5 to exit 18A, where it connects to the beginning of the Nimitz Highway contraflow lane. The H-1 contraflow lane is often referred to as a "zipper lane" due to the use of a movable concrete barrier and a zipper machine. The H-1 and Nimitz Highway contraflow lanes are restricted to buses, motorcycles, and high-occupancy vehicles with two or more occupants while in operation.

History

A set of Interstate Highways serving Oʻahu were authorized by the federal government in 1960, a year after Hawaii was admitted as a state. One of the corridors, connecting Barbers Point to Diamond Head, was designated as H-1 by the Bureau of Public Roads (now the Federal Highway Administration) on August 29, 1960. The portion of H-1 that runs through Downtown Honolulu had opened in 1953 as the Mauka Arterial and was incorporated into the new freeway. This section has been largely unchanged since its inception and its design suffers from having too many on/offramps, short distanced onramps, and onramps that enter the freeway almost immediately before an offramp (opposite of current design standards). The 'new' section of H-1 was, however, built to contemporary freeway standards.

Construction on the first new section of H-1 began in 1963, shortly after alignments were approved for most of the freeway. The Lunalilo Freeway, already planned by the state government and funded with a 50-percent match from the federal government, was incorporated into plans for H-1 in 1965 following the rejection of five other proposed routings. The westernmost section of H-1 in Makakilo opened on September 29, 1966. The Kapiolani Interchange, opened in October 1967, filled a gap between two sections of the Lunalilo Freeway spanning 3 mi in Honolulu. Another gap in H-1 was filled in March 1969 with the opening of 3 mi between Kunia Road (Route 76) and the Waiawa Interchange with H-2.

The Hawaiian Interstate shields have gone through several changes. Early shields contained the hyphen as per the official designation (e.g., H-1); however, these shields have been updated with the hyphen removed (e.g., H1). As in other states across the contiguous US, early Interstate shields also included the writing of 'Hawaii' above the Interstate route number and below the 'Interstate' writing. While the "Queen Liliʻuokalani" section of H-1 has signs designating it as such (one eastbound at exit 1, the other westbound after exit 19), there are no similar name signs for the Lunalilo Freeway portion (the remainder of the freeway).

Interstate H-4

In the 1960s, a fourth freeway that would have been Interstate H-4 (H-4) was proposed for the city of Honolulu. The intent of H-4 was to provide relief to the congested H-1 through Downtown Honolulu. Had it been built, the 6.5 mi route of H-4 would have started at exit 18 (H-1/Nimitz Highway interchange) and followed the Honolulu waterfront to the Kapiolani interchange (exit 25B). The idea, however, was unpopular and the freeway was never built.

Exit list

Auxiliary routes

• A portion of the Moanalua Freeway is designated as H-201. Until mid-2004, it was signed as Route 78.

References

References

1. Starks, Edward. (January 27, 2022). "Table 1: Main Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways". [[Federal Highway Administration]].
2. [[Google Maps]] street maps and [[USGS]] [[topographic map]]s, accessed December 2007 via [http://mapper.acme.com/ ACME Mapper]
3. Watanabe, June. "Kokua Line". Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
4. Weingroff, Richard. "Interstates in Hawaii: ARE WE CRAZY???". Federal Highway Administration.
5. (June 19, 1960). "Freeways To Be Extended". The Honolulu Advertiser.
6. (September 20, 1963). "H-1 Part Of Defense Super Trio". The Honolulu Advertiser.
7. (February 12, 1965). "U.S. Names Lunalilo H-1; State To Recoup $23 Million". The Honolulu Advertiser.
8. Buchwach, Buck. (January 7, 1964). "State To ask Lunalilo Freeway as H-1 Route Through Honolulu". The Honolulu Advertiser.
9. (September 29, 1966). "Ceremony Opens Strip Of New Isle Freeway". The Honolulu Advertiser.
10. (October 27, 1967). "Interchange speeds cars into usual town jam-ups". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
11. (February 20, 1968). "By Land, Sea an Air: Putting the Roads on the Show". The Honolulu Advertiser.
12. (March 20, 1969). "Another Stretch of Freeway Opens". The Honolulu Advertiser.
13. Voss, Oscar. (June 2006). "Hawaii Road Sign Photos (Page 2 of 3)". Hawaii Highways.
14. (May 2015). "Interstate H-1". Interstate-Guide.
15. (October 1968). "Proposed Route H-4, Interstate and Defense Highway System Extension". State of Highway Department of Transportation.
16. DeLorme. (2007). "Street Atlas USA". DeLorme.
17. Hawaii Department of Transportation. (February 11, 2010). "North–South Road Completed, New Name Unveiled". Hawaii Department of Transportation.