City breaks ground at Alapai Joint Traffic Management Center

The City and County of Honolulu has broken ground for the new, modern Joint Traffic Management Center at Alapai Street across from the Honolulu Municipal Building.

The $5 million Alapai Transit Center will feature four 50-foot-long bus shelters with seating for more than 40 riders, a 10-foot, multi-use path along South Hotel Street for bicycles and pedestrians, bicycle storage, sign and audio announcement systems, public restrooms, and landscaping.  The cost of the Alapai project is being split evenly between the City and Federal Transit Administration.

The City also broke ground for the parking structure for the Joint Traffic Management Center, representing the first phase of a multi-year, three-phase project.  The parking structure, to be built atop the transit center, will have 418 stalls on five levels. The cost will be $20 million, all in City funds spread over several fiscal years.

The Joint Traffic Management Center will eventually house the traffic control operations of the City and state Department of Transportation, as well as operations of such first-responder agencies as Fire, Police, Emergency Services, and Emergency Management.

The parking structure is being built first to accommodate bus service. Design work on the two remaining phases will begin this year, with construction slated for late 2012.