As summer winds down, thousands of Hawaii students return to school

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Tens of thousands of Hawaii students will be returning to school for the 2017-2018 school year.

According to the state Department of Education, most public school students kicked off classes Monday except for those on multi-track schedules or charter school students.

Most private schools start the week of Aug. 14, with the exception of St. Louis School and Kamehameha Schools Kapalama, which begin this week.

More than 53,000 colleges, university and private school students return to campus on Monday, Aug. 21, the state Department of Transportation said.

The DOT says to expect more traffic, which is why state and city leaders will be holding a "Beat the School Jam" news conference Monday morning to address efforts to alleviate congestion.

"We're making meaningful progress to help commuters spend more time with family and less time on the road," Gov. David Ige said. "Because our roads weren't built to handle today's traffic, we continue to create more efficient and effective ways to manage the demand."

Among the road improvements aimed at speeding up traffic that the state is pointing to:

• New lane on Kahekili Highway and morning contraflow
• New lane on Moanalua Freeway westbound from Halawa to Aiea
• H-1 Freeway improvements from Waimalu Viaduct to Halawa
• Farrington Highway intersection improvements and turning lanes added
• Pali Highway street lighting upgrades and pavement resurfacing
• Kalihi Street Resurfacing from Nimitz Highway to School Street

In addition, the state plans to suspend construction-related road closures on major state highways from Aug. 21 to 25 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

This story will be updated.

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