KAILUA — Just as one traffic-snarling sewer project is coming to an end, another one is starting in Kailua. And there's a whopper of a third project waiting in the wings.

City contractors this week began work on a six-month, $1.6 million drainage improvement project that could shut down a busy stretch of Kailua Road near the town center during weekday hours for up to four months.

The work to install a new drainage system in the area fronting Kailua District Park likely will cause traffic delays and frustration for thousands of residents and tourists who use the two-lane road as their main way to Kailua Beach and Enchanted Lake, officials said.

Meanwhile, the city is preparing to launch work on another Kailua sewer project in August. That will close parts of Wana'ao Road and Keolu Drive for up to three years, according to the Department of Design and Construction.

"We know traffic will be impacted. We're asking for everyone's cooperation and patience," said Eric Iwamoto, a spokesman for KFC Engineering Management, which will oversee the work on both projects.

The two projects are part of more than $50 million in sewer and roadway improvements expected to begin in the Windward community in the next two years as the city proceeds with plans to upgrade infrastructure islandwide. They come just as contractors are putting the finishing touches on a problem-plagued sewer replacement project that disrupted traffic for years on Kalaheo Avenue, the town's only beachfront road.

That's no accident. The city delayed the start of the new sewer work until it was sure the Kalaheo project was substantially finished.

"We wanted to make sure there was an alternative way to get around before we started the new work," said Clifford Kanda, a project manager for the city.

BEACH ROUTE BLOCKAGE

The Kailua Road project likely will cause the most disruption, requiring all traffic to be detoured through other parts of the commercial district from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., officials said.

"We'll have to find a different route to get to the beach," said Kathy Twogood, an owner of Twogood Kayaks and Canoes, which transports its rented kayaks each day to the beach park via Kailua Road.

Tourists who usually follow hand-out maps showing a route to the beach via Kailua Road will have a more difficult time, she said.

"When they start detouring, they'll be lost," she said.

The project calls for installation of new drain pipes in the area, which frequently exper-iences ponding during heavy rains.

The drain will feed into a new 48-inch main, and runoff will be sent to a stormwater filtration system to be constructed in a parking lot on the makai side of the road.

Once the drains are in place, plans also call for improvement of the road fronting the district park. The roadway will be widened to include two through lanes, a center lane for turning, a bike lane, a planting strip and a walkway.

The improvements are in the same area that D.R. Horton Schuler plans to begin construction on a new 153-unit condominium in 2008.

Ken Sanders, head of the Kailua Chamber of Commerce, said merchants aren't overly worried about expected traffic congestion.

"It's good that they waited till the other project was done so people will have another way to pass through town," he said. "Somehow, we'll get through it."

The larger project that begins later this summer calls for sewers to be repaired and replaced along Wana'ao Road and Keolu Drive using trenching and micro-tunneling techniques.

MORE TO COME

That $45 million project is expected to take about three years to complete. The good news: Because both streets are four-lane roads, at least one lane of traffic in each direction will be available nearly all the time, Iwamoto said.

At least five other sewer replacement and street repaving projects are expected to begin by the end of next year, officials said.

Neighborhood Board leaders say they want residents to be kept well informed about problems and progress of all the work projects. Contractors plan to set up a Web site, newsletters and 24-hour telephone hot lines to keep the neighborhood posted on developments, city officials said.

"If you keep the community informed from the beginning, you'll have a lot fewer problems in the long run," board member Faith Evans said.

Meanwhile, work has finished on the Kalaheo Avenue project, which caused detours and foul odors near beachfront residences for almost seven years. The project was delayed by the bankruptcy of two construction companies, unexpected ground conditions and new sewer breaks, eventually pushing the original cost of $36 million to more than $74 million.

Through it all, and additional sewer and repaving work along Hamakua Drive, residents eventually learned to live with the dust and delays.

"Maybe that's why no one is complaining now. They're used to it already," said Rosa Baysa, a manager at the Aloha gas station at the corner of Kailua Road and Hahani Street, where construction began this week.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.