HAWAI'I KAI — Sewer work has begun in earnest along Lunalilo Home Road, with lanes coned off, steel plates over trenches and above-ground temporary sewer lines placed on the busy thoroughfare.

It's part of an eight-week project to reline the 40-year-old sewer pipes along Lunalilo Home Road from Anapalau Street to Kaiser High School.

After that phase is done, a second phase begins, from just past the high school to past Wailua Street. The second phase should take about three weeks.

The final phase in October will go from Hawai'i Kai Drive to past Kalanipu'u Street.

Only one small portion of sewer pipe beneath Lunalilo Home Road will need to be worked on, said Ian Arakaki, a consultant for Hawai'i-American Water Co., which owns the sewer system in Hawai'i Kai. That project will begin in September or October, Arakaki said.

Once the work is done, the underground sewer lines along Lunalilo Home Road from the library to nearly the end of the valley will have been rehabilitated with a cured-in-place lining, he said.

Residents in the affected area received notices in the mail, and an electronic billboard was placed near the start of the project that will update residents on road and lane closures, Arakaki said. An above-ground sewer pipe will keep sewage flowing while crews work on the sewer lines, he said.

Some of the work will have to be done at night.

"We're catching it before the pipes need to be replaced," Arakaki said. "While we're working we'll have to close one lane. It's going to be ugly because once the pumps are there, they can't move."

Hawai'i-American Water has come before the community a number of times to outline its plans, said Neighborhood Board member John Steinmiller.

"It was something that had to be done," Steinmiller said. "I know it's a bit inconvenient to people, but we don't want our sewer lines bursting."

At the same time, the city Department of Transportation Services will begin work on shortening the $1.2 million median strip by the Union 76 gas station and the Hawaii National Bank building, both on Lunalilo Home Road. When the median was built in 2003 the city knew that the community wanted it to be shortened to enable motorists to turn safely into the businesses.

City Councilman Charles Djou planned a $200,000 repair that will lop off 100 feet at the end of the median at the north side of the intersection of Lunalilo Home Road and Kaumakani Street. The work was supposed to begin in July, but Lester Muraoka, Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board chairman, said the board asked the city to coordinate the construction with the sewer work.

The sewer company does plan to do additional work around the area, but these projects are on smaller pipes and take just a day or two, Arakaki said.

"We're still analyzing a few areas along Hawai'i Kai Drive. We've replaced a lot of pipe on there. We're still investigating."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.