Interstate H-1

Interstate H-1 (abbreviated H-1) is the longest and busiest Interstate Highway in the US state of Hawaii. The highway is located on the island of O‘ahu. Despite the number, this is an east–west highway; the 'H'-series (for Hawaii) numbering reflects the order in which routes were funded and built. H-1 goes from Route 93 (Farrington Highway) in Kapolei to Route 72 (Kalanianaole Highway) in Kāhala. East of Middle Street in Honolulu (exit 19A), H-1 is also known as the ''Lunalilo Freeway'' and is sometimes signed as such at older signs in central Honolulu. West of Middle Street, H-1 is also known as the '' Queen Liliuokalani Freeway''; this name is shown on some roadmaps. It is both the southernmost and westernmost signed Interstate Highway located in the United States.

Route description

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

H-1 then continues along the northern edge of Waipahu approximately until its junction with Interstate H-2. It then continues east through the towns of Pearl City and Aiea for approximately to the complex Halawa Interchange, where it meets Interstates H-3 and H-201. The highway then turns south for two miles (3 km), then east soon after the exits for Hickam Air Force Base and Pearl Harbor. At this point, the highway runs along a viaduct above State Route 92 (Nimitz Highway), passing to the north of Honolulu International Airport street maps and USGS topographic maps, accessed December 2007 vi
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Two miles past the airport exit, three lanes exit the freeway at exit 18A to join Nimitz Highway toward Waikiki, while half a mile later the remaining two lanes make a sharp turn south as H-1 reaches another major interchange with the east end of Interstate 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 Kahala district of Honolulu near Kahala Mall, where State Route 72 (Kalanianaole Highway) ends.

During morning commute hours on weekdays, an eastbound contraflow express lane is deployed from just west of exit 7 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 vehicles with two or more occupants while in operation.

History

A set of Interstate Highways serving O‘ahu were authortized 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 Interstate 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/off ramps, short distanced on-ramps, and on-ramps that enter the freeway almost immediately before an off-ramp (opposite of current design standards). The 'new' section of H-1 was, however, built to modern 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 in Honolulu. Another gap in H-1 was filled in March 1969 with the opening of 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 United States, early interstate shields also included the writing of 'Hawaii' above the interstate route number and below the 'Interstate' writing. While the "Queen Liliuokalani" section of the Interstate 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 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 Interstate H-201. Until mid-2004, it was signed as Route 78.

References

External links

Exit List for Interstate H-1

{{interstates

H1
Interstate Highways in Hawaii
Transportation in Honolulu County, Hawaii
Monuments and memorials to Liliʻuokalani