Interstate H-1

Interstate H-1
Queen Lili'uokalani Freeway
H-1 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by HDOT
Length	27.16 mi[1] (43.71 km)
Existed	1959 – present
History	Completed in 1986
Major junctions
West end	Route 93 in Kapolei
	H-2 in Pearl City H-3 / H-201 / Route 78 in Halawa
East end	Route 72 in Honolulu
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Routes in Hawaii ← Route 8930 H-2 →

Interstate H-1 (abbreviated H-1) is the 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 Liliʻuokalani Freeway; this name is shown on some roadmaps. It is both the southernmost and westernmost signed Interstate Highway in the United States.

Route description

Aerial view of H-1 (looking east) from Honolulu Airport heading into downtown Honolulu

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).^[2]

H-1 then continues along the northern edge of Waipahu approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) until its junction with Interstate H-2. It then continues east through the towns of Pearl City and Aiea for approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) 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.^[2]

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.

H-1 has a maximum posted speed limit of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) west of the Kunia-Ewa-Waipahu interchange; a 55-mile-per-hour (89 km/h) speed limit between the H-201/H-1 split and the H-1/H-2 merge, 50-mile-per-hour (80 km/h) speed limit between Kahala and the University area, with a 45-mile-per-hour (72 km/h) section between University and the H-201/H-1 split.

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 1965 photo of the H-1 under construction, looking eastbound, ending at Harding and Kapahulu Avenues.^[3]

Interstate H-1 was authorized as a result of the Statehood Act of 1960.^[4] The portion of H-1 that runs through downtown Honolulu opened in 1953 as the Mauka Arterial; it was added to the Interstate system when Hawaii became a state. 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.

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.^[5] 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).^[4]

Interstate H-4

In the 1960s a fourth freeway, which 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 6.5-mile-long (10.5 km) 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).^[6] The idea, however, was unpopular and the freeway was never built.^[4]

Exit list

The entire route is in Honolulu County.

Location	mi[7]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Kapolei	0.00	0.00		Farrington Highway (Route 93 west)	Continuation beyond western terminus
			1A	Campbell Industrial Park, Barbers Point Harbor (Route 95)
	1.12	1.80	1B	Farrington Highway
	1.18	1.90	1C	Makakilo, Kapolei, Kalaeloa	Eastbound exit and entrance
	2.21	3.56	2	Makakilo, Kapolei, Kalaeloa (Route 901)	No eastbound exit
			3	Kapolei, Ewa	Formerly North–South Road,[8] now designated Route 8390
Waipahu	6.49	10.44	5	Route 76 south / Route 750 north – Kunia, Waipahu, Ewa	Northern terminus of Route 76; southern terminus of Route 750; signed as exits 5A (south) and 5B (north) westbound
	8.20	13.20	7	Waikele, Waipahu
	9.40	15.13	8	Kamehameha Highway (Route 99 north) – Waipahu, Pearl City	Southern terminus of Route 99; eastbound exits and westbound entrances; signed as exits 8A (south) and 8C (north)
	9.74	15.68	8B	H-2 north – Mililani, Wahiawa	Southern terminus of H-2; signed as exit 8A westbound
				Waipahu (Route 7101)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Pearl City	11.62	18.70	10	Pearlridge, Pearl City, Waimalu
Halawa	14.20	22.85	13A	H-3 east to Route 78 east (H-201) – Kaneohe, Honolulu Route 78 west – Aiea, Honolulu, Pearlridge	H-3 not signed westbound; western terminus of H-3
	14.61	23.51	13B	Halawa Heights, Stadium (H-201)	Eastbound signage; western terminus of H-201
				H-3 east to Route 78 east (H-201) – Kaneohe, Honolulu	Westbound signage
Honolulu	16.65	26.80	15A	Kamehameha Highway (Route 99 west) – Arizona Memorial, Aloha Stadium	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; eastern terminus of Route 99
	16.85	27.12	15B	Nimitz Highway (Route 92) – Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam	Signed as exit 15 eastbound
	17.77	28.60	16	Airport
				Aolele Street, Paiea Street	No westbound exit
	19.12– 19.60	30.77– 31.54	18A	Nimitz Highway (Route 92 west) – Waikiki	Signed as exit 18 westbound; eastern terminus of Route 92
	19.34	31.12	18B	Dillingham Boulevard, Middle Street (Route 7415)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	20.36	32.77	19A	Middle Street (Route 7415)	Westbound exit only
			19B	H-201 west (Route 78) – Fort Shafter, Aiea	Westbound left exit and eastbound left entrance; eastern terminus of H-201/Route 78
	20.56	33.09	20A	Likelike Highway (Route 63 north)	Southern terminus of Route 63
			20B	Houghtailing Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	20.80	33.47		Vineyard Boulevard (Route 98 east)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; western terminus of Route 98
	21.35	34.36	20C	Palama Street	Westbound exit only
	22.31	35.90	21A	School Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				Pali Highway (Route 61)	Signed as exit 21B westbound
	22.77	36.64	21B	Punchbowl Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			22	Vineyard Boulevard (Route 98 west)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; eastern terminus of Route 98
	23.10	37.18		Kinau Street	Eastbound exit and entrance
			23	Lunalilo Street	No eastbound exit
	24.06	38.72		Punahou Street – Manoa, Waikiki	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	25.07	40.35	24A	Bingham Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				Wilder Avenue	Westbound exit only
	25.30	40.72	24B	University Avenue	Access to University of Hawaii at Manoa
	25.62	41.23	25A	King Street – Waikiki, Honolulu Zoo
			25B	Kapiolani Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	26.10	42.00		6th Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	26.83	43.18	26A	Koko Head Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	27.53	44.31	26B	Waialae Avenue	Signed as exit 26 westbound
	28.16	45.32	27	Kilauea Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				Kalanianaole Highway (Route 72 east) / Waikui Street east / Ainakoa Avenue north	At-grade intersection; highway continues east as Route 72
	1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate H-1.

Route map:

• Exit List for Interstate H-1
• Photos of Interstate H-1