‘It was hamajang’: East Oahu residents sue the city over shoddy road work

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Niu Valley residents are suing to halt a road construction job, accusing the city of shoddy work.

They alleged that the construction work on Anonia and Anolike streets is making it unsafe to walk or bicycle in their community.

“They’re worried about falling over and basically getting cheese-grated on the road and that it’s just so uneven they just can’t recreate on the road,” said Kydd Pollock, one of seven Niu Valley residents who filed the suit.

“The loose gravel that continues to exude out of the material goes up into carports so a lot of people are sweeping.”

Even drivers are affected, Pollock said.

“People notice a lot of gravel gathering underneath their mud guards and getting the petroleum product underneath their cars,” he said.

Honolulu City Councilmember Tommy Waters, who recently inspected the road, said he expects better work from the city.

“It was hamajanged ... It looked third world. It was horrible,” said Waters.

The city began the repairs in May because previous road job in October had used the wrong materials.

The suit said that the city applied what’s known as a “slurry seal” on the road, which made it ragged and uneven, causing gravel to break off.

It stopped and restarted the project a couple of time due to community opposition. Residents said the city now want to resume the work on July 7.

The suit, which was filed by attorney Eric Seitz, seeks a temporary halt to the project.

“My hope is the city will come to talk to us before we go to court because they ought to be acting in the interests of the community and not just shoving something down people’s throats,” he said.

The hearing on the injunction is set for July 6 -- or the day before construction is supposed to resume.

Copyright 2020 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.