Crews start 3-year project to replace 100+ poles on Leeward Coast

For Yancy Medeiros, 65, it’s reassuring that Hawaiian Electric has launched a 3-year project to replace aging utility poles along the Farrington Highway corridor.

“This is something that the community really needs for our kids’ kids and down the line. I support it,” said Medeiros, a Makaha resident who’s lived on the Waianae Coast since 1969. “We need to upgrade a lot of things on the West side.”

As of early September, the first eight of more than 100 wooden utility poles to be replaced along the Farrington Highway corridor have been installed in Makaha, not far from Medeiros’ home. Crews are replacing the poles with stronger, more resilient materials such as fiberglass and steel. About a dozen more utility poles are scheduled to be replaced begin in late October or November.

It’s all part of our Critical Pole Hardening Program on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island. The aim is to enhance safety in areas at high risk of wildfires, hardening the company’s infrastructure along important ingress and egress routes.

Lauren Wiley, who’s lived in Mākaha for a decade, said upgrading the poles is critical: “There’s only one way in and one way out.” Wiley watched as crews maneuvered bucket trucks in front of her home and said she was grateful for their work “to keep us safe.”

Medeiros agrees that building a safer grid benefits all those who live on the West side, including members of his ʻohana who live on his street.

Mike Aleksich, who works in construction and lives right off Farrington Highway, said the pole replacements show that Hawaiian Electric is making necessary investments and building more resilience along the Leeward Coast.

“It’s important that everything is being upgraded at the same time,” Aleksich said, noting recent bridge and roadway improvements in the area. He just asked that we provide ample notice if our work impacts Farrington Highway traffic so that he and his neighbors can plan their commutes accordingly.

As one of the employees who writes our traffic advisories, I assured him that we’d give him plenty of notice.

Medeiros said our utility pole improvements will make a difference: “This is home. So whatever that can be done to make life easier here, especially for the future, we all need to be a part of this.”