Gulick Avenue closed at Beckley Street, one year for overpass reconstruction

HONOLULU - The Hawai'i Department of Transportation (HDOT) is notifying motorists of full closure of Gulick Avenue to begin the year-long reconstruction of the Gulick Avenue Overpass spanning the H-1 Freeway.

On Monday Sept. 21, Gulick Avenue will be fully closed as crews begin preparation work along the overpass for demolition and reconstruction. Work activities are scheduled for daytime hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. This work excludes weekends and holidays.

Prior to the start of this work, the temporary pedestrian bridge will be opened on Monday, Sept. 21 at 6 a.m., and remain open for pedestrian and bicycling access throughout the construction process. The steel structure for the temporary pedestrian bridge was installed on Saturday, July 11 spanning the H-1 Freeway. Crews completed safety and finishing work along the bridge through August to prepare for use as demolition and reconstruction work on the Gulick Avenue overpass begins.

Gulick Avenue overpass work will be completed in two phases. The first five to seven weeks of work will be on the makai abutment drilled shaft foundations. Beckley Street will remain closed 24 hours a day during this phase to support construction activities. During this phase, work hours may extend to 6 p.m. to expedite drilling work. Motorists will be detoured via the Diamond Head side of Beckley Street to either Kaili Street to reach North King Street, or to Nakuine Street for student drop-off. Only local traffic will be allowed through the area during this closure. Motorists on the mauka side of the work area will turn into Kalihi Waena Elementary school's parking lot to turn around during daytime hours. In the evening, motorists must U-turn on Gulick Avenue. Please see map above for details.During Phase One, students at Kalihi Waena Elementary School may either be dropped off on the School Street end of Gulick Avenue to walk into the school, or at a drop-off zone on Nakuine Street where students will use the temporary pedestrian bridge to access the school. Special duty officers will be on-site to assist pedestrians during this closure.

In Phase Two, Beckley Street will be reopened and utilized as the student drop-off zone, with use of the temporary pedestrian bridge to get to school. The opening of Beckley Street and start of Phase Two is estimated for mid-November 2026.

Phase Two is anticipated to begin in mid-October, taking another five to seven weeks to complete the drilled shaft foundations for the mauka abutment. At this time, the makai side of the intersection will reopen at Beckley Street and Gulick Avenue to improve traffic flow through the area. Motorists may use Gulick Avenue to the intersection of Beckley Street and will then be detoured via Kaili Street to reach North King Street.

On the mauka side of the work area, motorists will continue to follow the previous detour by turning into and continuing through the Kalihi Waena Elementary school parking lot during daytime hours and turning around on Gulick Avenue during evening hours.

The City and County of Honolulu Department of Environmental Services is working closely with the contractor to ensure trash collection is not disrupted for the 14 residents affected by the construction. Impacted residents with questions about their trash collection can reach out to Hawaiian Dredging at 808-754-6515 for guidance.

Bus service along Gulick Avenue, Route 307, will be detoured via the preferred route around the work area via King Street, Kalihi Street/Likelike Highway, and School Street. Bus riders may use stops along King Street and School Street to access bus routes. To read the Rider Alert from TheBus, please visit: https://www.thebus.org/RiderAlerts_Listing.asp

As work progresses along the overpass, further closures on the H-1 Freeway will be minimal. Should work necessitate a closure on the H-1 Freeway below, another announcement will be made as work is scheduled. The full closure of Gulick Avenue is expected to remain in effect through September 2027 as bridge reconstruction and modification work are completed. The estimated completion date for the Eastbound H-1 Freeway Improvements Project is February 2028, weather permitting.

For more information, please view the project website at https://h1widening.com/

For a full list of lane closures scheduled on state roadways, please visit the HDOT website at https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/roadwork/.

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