'Ewa Beach and 'Ewa motorists will get a little more traffic relief when the long-awaited connection between Kapolei Parkway and North-South Road opens at the end of January or early February.

The connection would allow motorists an alternative path to H-1 Freeway via the new North-South Road interchange. They would travel along Kapolei Parkway through Ocean Pointe and 'Ewa By Gentry, continue north along North-South Road through 'Ewa Villages, and then into a section of Kapolei and Farrington Highway.

What's to open next year is a 0.7-mile segment of Kapolei Parkway in 'Ewa Villages that will connect 'Ewa with Kapolei, and the second segment of the state's North-South Road between Farrington Highway and Kapolei Parkway, state Transportation Director Brennon Morioka said yesterday.

In the past, frustrated early-morning 'Ewa Beach motorists stuck on Fort Weaver Road have been known to travel west into Kapolei to get on to the freeway to head back east into Honolulu.

But besides having a new route onto the freeway, "people will be able to travel on Kapolei Parkway (from 'Ewa) all the way into the heart of Kapolei," Morioka said. The northwestern segment of Kapolei Parkway now stretches as far as Fort Barrette Road. Eventually, Kapolei Parkway will connect all the way to Ko Olina.

Morioka made the announcement about the Kapolei Parkway-North-South Road connection as he and other officials formally opened the widened Fort Weaver Road yesterday.

Because the state has been opening up segments of the expanded road as they are completed, 'Ewa and 'Ewa Beach residents have been reaping the benefits of an additional lane in each direction over the past year.

DOT officials said 'Ewa Beach residents report shaving as much as 15 to 20 minutes off their peak-hour commutes.

Diane Reece, director of properties for the nonprofit Child & Family Services, which sits along Fort Weaver Road, said the Fort Weaver widening has made a huge difference for visitors to the center's parking lot.

"Before, it didn't matter what time of day you were trying to get in or out, you'd be stuck in traffic," Reece said. "Now, the cars are traveling down (Fort Weaver) with such speed that we have to wait for the red light to come on."

The two-mile stretch of Fort Weaver blessed yesterday, billed as Phase 2 of the Fort Weaver Widening Project, runs from 'A'awa Drive south to Geiger Road.

Built at just under $60 million, 80 percent from federal funding, the project had been beset by delays and complaints. Even state transportation officials and contractor Hawaiian Dredging Co. joked about the frustrations yesterday.

But even as the dedication was taking place at the Renton Road intersection, work was still being done on the Geiger area.

DOT spokeswoman Tammy Mori said a few isolated "punch list" items remain and are expected to be done in the coming weeks.