Work on the first of eight potential rockslide areas will begin tomorrow in Kailua — an earlier start than anticipated for $2.08 million in projects to protect motorists from falling rocks and debris.

The projects in Kailua, Wahiawa and Kipapa Gulch are expected to be completed in the summer.

The state Department of Transportation will close about 800 feet of the right lane in the Kailua-bound direction on Kalaniana'ole Highway from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. beginning at Castle Junction, said Scott Ishikawa, DOT spokesman. The lane closure will continue weekdays for about three months, he said.

"We're starting early to get off the road earlier to make way for the school traffic," Ishikawa said, adding that the lane closure won't affect traffic using Kapa'a Quarry Road.

The initial Kailua work calls for some grading and anchored netting to capture loose material that falls from the hillside.

The projects were announced yesterday in The Advertiser and estimated to start in about two weeks. Ishikawa said permits came back sooner than expected and the contractor, Prometheus Construction, is ready to begin.

Three of the eight sites that are being addressed in this round of work are among the 10 areas considered to have the greatest risk for rockfall. With the completion of these new projects, six of the 10 most at-risk areas will have been improved.

The contractor will work on four locations in Kailua on Kalaniana'ole Highway, three between Castle Junction and Kapa'a Quarry Road and one near Old Kalaniana'ole Road. Two sites are before and after the Karsten Thot Bridge in Wahiawa and two more are on Kamehameha Highway between Kipapa Gulch and Lanikuhana Avenue.

Only the first Kailua project will have netting. The contractor will use biodegradable mats embedded with grass seeds, erosion control mats or mulching to control problems at the other sites.

No lane closures will be necessary for the remaining seven projects, Ishikawa said.