KAIMUKI — Work to convert a municipal parking lot from coin-fed meters to an attendant operation in Kaimuki is well under way.

And it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Beginning this week, the four driveways leading into the area's largest municipal parking lot will be closed two at a time as workers build concrete islands for attendant booths.

The driveways nearest Wai'alae Avenue on 11th and 12th avenues are closed this week. Those nearest Harding Avenue will be closed next week.

"Circulation around the parking lot will be a little more difficult (then)," said Darin Mar, city traffic engineer and a Kaimuki resident.

Work on the driveways should be completed by the end of July, Mar said at last month's Kaimuki Neighborhood Board meeting.

"The goal is to power through it as quickly as possible," he said at the meeting.

The scope of construction, which could take up to a year, includes adding 30 more stalls, installing gates at exits and entrances, and raising the cost of parking after the first two hours to discourage long-term users from taking up high-demand stalls.

When the project is completed, officials hope it will help address the lack of parking, a perennial problem in this busy neighborhood that plagues merchants as well as customers.

Improvements are being made with as little disruption as possible to parking and traffic flow.

Construction is being done between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. There are at least three workers at the site every day directing traffic and helping drivers find open stalls, Mar said.

It doesn't help that dozens of stalls are blocked off during construction.

"I don't think (the upgrades) are a great thing," said Sandra Rowland, 48, of Mililani, financial director of Ulupono Academy, a Paul Mitchell Partner School, on 11th Avenue. "(The construction) is causing such a hassle ... It's been worse than usual."

Rowland said the cosmetology school has about a dozen staffers and 40 students a week who need to find parking every day. That doesn't include the clients the school and its full-service salon see every day, around 60.

Clients can stay up to four hours at the salon. And with the change in hourly rates once the lot is converted to an attendant operation — weekday parking will remain 75 cents per hour for the first two hours, then jump to $1.50 per hour thereafter — might hurt business, Rowland said.

"It's going to be crazy," she said. "There's going to be one way in and one way out. Talk about congestion and inconvenience."

In December the city decided to convert the metered lot between 11th and 12th avenues into an attended lot. It awarded a three-year contract to Seattle-based Republic Parking Northwest Co. to make capital improvements and manage the lot, which serves more than 100 businesses in the area.

Stuart McElhaney, head pharmacist at The Pillbox Pharmacy on 11th Avenue, welcomes the new parking format and adjusted rates.

He's especially looking forward to no longer having to change dollar bills into quarters for customers who need to pay the meters.

"That will take the load off of us," McElhaney said. "We're the only business in the area that gives change. We have bowls of quarters here. You wouldn't believe how much change we give out."

He said the 20-minute grace period that will be part of the new rate schedule will benefit the pharmacy's 6,000 customers, many of whom stop in to pick up their prescriptions.

"Many of them come in, get what they order and it's pau," he said. "That's going to be wonderful for us."

McElhaney also applauded the efforts of the city and the management company, which decided to keep portions of the lot open during construction and have been distributing weekly updates to area businesses.

"We're glad the way it's been progressing," he said. "So far, it's been good."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.