Forty years after it was first proposed, a plan to build a second access road to Leeward Community College has advanced farther than ever, with the state Department of Transportation completing an environmental assessment.

But despite the recent progress, the project still appears to be mired in uncertainty.

The state Department of Transportation said that under state law it cannot build the access road because it doesn't connect with the state highway system.

The University of Hawai'i and Leeward Community College officials say they now plan to work more closely with the city on possibly building a road in conjunction with its mass-transit project.

"I'm hopeful it will happen eventually," said state Sen. Clarence Nishihara, D-18th (Waipahu, Crestview, Pearl City), who has advocated for the second access road. "The question is, who's going to build it?"

The proposal is for a new two-lane, two-way road stretching about a mile from Waipi'o Point Access Road to the Leeward Community College campus. The project, estimated to cost about $17 million and take about a year to complete construction, also would include roadway and pedestrian access improvements to Waiawa Road.

The project would provide a critical second route on and off campus and reduce traffic congestion, which at certain times of the day backs up about half a mile, said Mark Lane, Leeward Community College vice chancellor of administrative services. He said the road would benefit not only students, faculty and staff, but nearby residents as well.

LCC has about 6,000 students and shares its campus with the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu.

LCC and UH officials said they hope to work with the city in completing the second access road, saying the city has a vested interest in the project. The city plans a transit stop at LCC and is considering using the former U.S. Navy Ewa Drum Storage site adjacent to the campus as a transit system maintenance facility.

"It's all sort of coming together, hopefully, where with these different things planned to take place, the second access road will finally come to fruition," Lane said. "A lot of the campus folks are skeptical, of course, because they've heard this over and over and over for many years. But hopefully, we can make something work here."

Sam Callejo, UH vice president for administration, said the timing for LCC's second access road depends largely on the city's timeline in its transit plans.

"If they are going to need this road, we should build it in conjunction with it," he said.

But city spokesman Bill Brennan said at this time, the city Department of Transportation Services doesn't believe there is any money in the transit project cost estimate for the second access road.

The proposal for a second access road has been discussed for decades.

According to the environmental assessment, the idea originated in a 1966 Master Plan for the school. The plan said a second access route to LCC would reduce traffic congestion and potential hazards from just having a single access route, and that it would give access to future and existing development adjacent to the site.

The project was suspended because there wasn't enough funding and because a plan for nearby private housing was abandoned.

Since then, a 1995 long-range development plan for the school recommended a secondary access route as a 60-foot right-of-way. A 2001 "Feasibility Study for Leeward Community College Access Improvements" prepared by the state Department of Transportation recommended the proposed second access be developed as a new roadway from Waipi'o Point Access Road to the school campus.

The state DOT paid consultant Wilson Okamoto Corp. $787,000 to complete the environmental assessment, which determined no significant impact.

DOT spokesman Scott Ishi-kawa said the department was in the middle of the planning process when it discovered it couldn't move forward with the design and construction because the road doesn't connect with the state highway system. He said transportation officials in 2006 told LCC and UH that DOT would finish the environmental assessment and hand the report over to UH.

Ishikawa said the Legislature in 2005 allocated $6 million for design and construction, which DOT ultimately can't spend on the project.

Still, Lane said the environmental assessment is the farthest the project has gotten.

"I've scoured the shelves here and dusted off a lot of stuff," he said. "There's nothing that goes this far.

"We're making sure that the project is still on people's minds," Lane said. "The need still exists. All the arguments back from 1966 still remain today. So we're pursuing all avenues that we can regarding this."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.