Hawaii Highways - Road Photos - Interstate H-1 (page 1 of 2)

Hawaii Highways road photos -- Interstate H-1 (page 1 of 2)

(Oahu part 2 of 6 -- other Oahu parts: Interstate H-3 · Other Freeways
Other Oahu South · Other Oahu West · Other Oahu East)

This part has 30 photos of Hawaii's Interstate H-1 (Queen Liliuokalani Freeway west of exit 19, including the viaduct passing north of Honolulu International Airport; Lunalilo Freeway to the east). H-1 is Hawaii's oldest freeway, with some segments built before Hawaii became a state in 1959 (believe me, it shows), though the entire route was not completed until the late 1980s.

Most of the photos are my own. Page 2 includes one historic road photo from the archives of the Federal Highway Administration's predecessor, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Public Roads.

Because of the large number of photos, this part is divided into two pages. The photos below cover the Queen Liliuokalani Freeway (exits 1-18). Page 2, which follows, covers the Lunalilo Freeway (exits 19-27), and also provides links to a related site and to the rest of the Hawaii Highways road photos collection.

NOTE: In case you want more detail, you can click many of the photos below (for now, mainly some of the 2001 photos) to view an enlarged, higher-quality (less .jpg compression) version. Those alternate versions have larger file sizes, so please be patient while they download.


The west end of Interstate H-1, viewed from the west, where the Farrington Highway (state route 93) turns into H-1, at an unsigned point between the beginning of the concrete median barrier and the overpass in the background. (September 1999)	From the east, the west end of Interstate H-1 is about 300 feet west (on the other side) of the overpass in the background on the right, which takes Kalaeloa Boulevard (unsigned state route 95) over the freeway. (November 2001)
The crossed zero pavement marking on the westbound shoulder, and a similar marking painted on the median barrier, are the only indications of H-1's exact west end. While the highway changes at this point from an Interstate to a state route (Farrington Highway, state route 93), it remains a freeway for a little more than a mile, until its at-grade intersection with Laaloa Street. (November 2001)

The junction with H-2, from the westbound lanes. (October 1999)

A broader telephoto view of the same junction, from the Leeward Community College access overpass to the east, showing H-1's "zipper lane" (eastbound, morning rush only -- this photo was taken just after the zipper lane was closed at 8am), and the ramp onto the zipper lane from southbound Interstate H-2. (May 2000)

HOV-3 express "zipper lane", HOV-2 carpool lane, shoulder lane ... Hawaii DOT pulls out all the stops to accommodate rush-hour traffic without widening this stretch of eastbound H-1, just east of the junction with H-2. Just don't break down here during the morning rush, please! (May 2000)
The "Zipmobile" in action at the end of the morning rush on H-1, moving eastbound (toward me) to convert the single zipper lane back into two westbound lanes. (Note the "guide line" for the Zipmobile operator, in the middle of the westbound #2 lane.) Hawaii DOT is considering whether to implement a similar zipper lane arrangement for the afternoon rush, to convert two eastbound lanes into one HOV-3 westbound lane. However, a left exit to and entrance from Interstate H-2 would make a westbound zipper lane more complicated than the eastbound lane. (May 2000)

Overhead sign at one of the four entrances from eastbound H-1 to the zipper lane. As the sign notes, there is only one exit from the zipper lane, just west of the airport where it turns into an HOV-3 morning rush-only shoulder lane. (October 1999)	West of the airport, near the east end of the zipper lane, a warning to westbound traffic when it will lose the two left lanes, to make room for the eastbound zipper lane. (October 1999)

Yet another view of H-1's zipper lane, facing westbound from the Moanalua Freeway (state route 78/Interstate H-201) overpass. (November 2001)
	One of two unusually-configured "hammerhead piers" on overpasses over Interstate H-1 northeast of Pearl Harbor. This overpass is for Moanalua Road, now the Moanalua Freeway (state route 78/Interstate H-201). (October 1999)

These overhead signs on westbound H-1 direct traffic through the complex interchange at the west end of the Airport Viaduct. The middle sign, as well as a similar sign on state route 92 under the viaduct, still refer to the Kamehameha Highway east of Pearl Harbor as route 90, long after it was renumbered to state route 99. This is perhaps the most prominent highway "sign goof" in the islands, though it doesn't seem to be terribly confusing to anybody -- overhead signs both before and after this one show the correct route number, the middle sign correctly indicates the tourist destinations reached via "route 90," and local residents don't pay much attention to route numbers anyway. (November 2001)

Facing westbound, part of the Airport Viaduct carrying H-1 over the Nimitz Highway (state route 92), just west of exit 18. The viaduct is almost three miles long (Hawaii's longest bridge). The Nimitz Highway continues under the viaduct for the rest of its length, until it emerges from underneath and continues west while H-1 curves northwest. (November 2001 - contrast enhanced on speed limit signs)

East of the airport, as H-1 enters a 35 mph half-mile S-curve between the Nimitz Highway (state route 92) and the Moanaloa Freeway, is this overhead sign with a faded old-style H-1 route shield with a hyphenated route number. While the route number officially includes a hyphen, the newer route shields posted on freeways omit the hyphen. (September 1999)
Page 2: Lunalilo Freeway (H-1 east of exit 18)