Crews will start repaving Kapi'olani Boulevard as early as this weekend as part of the final phase of a project started two years ago to rehabilitate sewer and water lines under the busy thoroughfare.

The work will wrap up in spring 2009, with a break for the holidays.

"Everybody wants this thing over with," said Russell Takara, deputy director of the city Department of Design and Construction. "It's a tough project. It's taken a long time."

The rutted roadway will be repaved from Ward to Kalakaua avenues.

Most of the work will be done at night, but drivers should also expect single or multiple lane closures during the day as crews prepare the road for repaving, said project manager Brian Lum of Engineers Surveyors Hawaii.

Total cost of the Kapi'olani project is $34 million, which includes repairing or replacing sewer and water lines that are 70 years old or more. Of that total, about $3.5 million will go toward repaving the roadway.

"The road is pretty bad," Lum said.

The city had originally planned to repave only the two middle lanes of Kapi'olani, but recently decided to repave all lanes from Ward to Kalakaua, Lum said. The repaving work will start at Kapi'olani and Ward.

Businesses along Kapi'olani say they're looking forward to the end of the work. Though the project has stopped during the holidays, from Thanksgiving to a few weeks into the new year, merchants say they have still seen significant drops in business.

Craig Inouye, co-owner of Quicksilver Boardriders Club, would prefer the city hold off on repaving the road, at least until after the holidays.

"For businesses along the Kapi'olani corridor, it's been tough to survive," he said. "It's an area that I think most people avoid" because of the roadwork. Inouye added that he has seen at least a 20 percent drop in business since the project started in September 2006.

Edwin Quinabo, co-owner of Fina Home Accents on Kapi'olani Boulevard, agreed. "It's a slow economy and retailers need all the break they can get," he said. "There should be some relief" from the work.

In addition to the repaving work, crews are still working on sewer and water lines in sections of Kapi'olani Boulevard and on side streets. Takara said that once the Kapi'olani project is wrapped up, no major work is planned for the thoroughfare for at least a year.