The John H. Wilson Tunnels are a pair of highway

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s passing through the Ko‘olau Range on the island of

O‘ahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...

. The tunnels are located on Likelike Highway (Route 63), which connects Kāneʻohe with

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, and are 2775 feet (845.8 m) long westbound and 2813 feet (857.4 m) long eastbound, at . The tunnels are named after former Honolulu Mayor John H. Wilson, who built the first carriage road over the Nu‘uanu Pali in 1898. While mayor, Wilson advocated a tunnel connecting Kaneohe with

through Kalihi Valley. The

City and County of Honolulu Honolulu County (officially known as the City and County of Honolulu, formerly Oahu County) is a consolidated city–county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The city–county includes both the city of Honolulu (the state's capital and largest cit ...

spent

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

12 million on the tunnels and highway. Construction started on the Honolulu-bound tunnel in January 1954, and the Kāneʻohe-bound tunnel in 1957. Five people died during their construction, and they were opened to traffic in November 1960. The tunnels are now maintained by the Hawaii State Department of Transportation.

References

Road tunnels in Hawaii Transportation in Honolulu County, Hawaii Buildings and structures in Honolulu County, Hawaii Tunnels completed in 1960 1960 establishments in Hawaii {{US-tunnel-stub