A court ruling in September has cleared the way for Hawai'i County to start planning the extension of Lako Street to Ali'i Drive, and county officials are beginning a series of meetings to move the project forward.

The planned Lako Street extension is expected to ease traffic along Royal Poinciana Drive and between Kailua to Keauhou. The new road will also become another mauka-makai connector road from Ali'i Drive to Kuakini Highway, and will function as an emergency route in the event of a natural disaster.

Tonight the county will hold the first of a series of community meetings on the project at 6 p.m. at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel.

For more information about the Lako Street extension, e-mail Cheryl Yoshida of CH2M Hill at Cheryl.Yoshida@CH2M.com. To download the environmental assessment, go to www.co.hawaii.hi.us and click on "Projects Update."