WAILUA, Kaua'i — An 88-year-old cane haul bridge over Kaua'i's Wailua River will be retrofitted to carry two traffic lanes and a bicycle and walking path starting in late July.

When completed, the 14-month, $30 million project will turn the former one-lane bridge into two lanes northbound on a permanent basis.

The two-lane Wailua Highway Bridge, which runs parallel to the cane haul bridge, will then become permanently south-bound.

The project has been long-awaited to help traffic congestion in the Lihu'e to Kapa'a corridor of Kuhio Highway (Highway 56), which has only three lanes in that segment. Contraflow for rush hours has helped ease traffic flow since 1992, but ever-increasing travel times for the few miles from Wailua to Kapa'a can strain drivers' patience.

Almost half of Kaua'i residents and visitor accommodations are north of the Wailua River, making improved traffic flow in the area a concern for both locals and tourists.

A second project in the corridor — widening Kuhio Highway immediately north of the Wailua River to the Kapa'a Bypass Road — will go out for bid this fall and should begin in early 2010, state Transportation Director Brennon Morioka said. The $27 million project is expected to take 18 months, he said.

A third major highway project on Kaua'i also will start early next year — widening the Kaumuali'i Highway (Highway 50) from just west of its intersection with Rice Street (Highway 58) in Lihu'e to Kaua'i Community College in Puhi. That $70 million project could take two years, Morioka said.

When completed, the pair of Wailua River bridges will be renamed in honor of former Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste, who died June 22, 2008.

Baptiste, Kaua'i's mayor from 2002-2008, had a vision for the bridge "and he would not take no for an answer," Morioka said.

The Transportation Department doesn't name highways or bridges lightly, Morioka said at a blessing ceremony for the project last week, but "it's indisputable as to Mayor Baptiste's involvement."

"I know he'd be honored that this bridge had his name," Gov. Linda Lingle said of her friend and political ally. "But he'd be more pleased to know that it will reduce traffic and improve the quality of life for the people of Kaua'i."

Lingle also emphasized that the project will employ up to 150 people for a year, an important fact in a down economy.

The Transportation Department has been getting good bids from contractors for highway projects lately, because private-sector jobs are scarce, Morioka said.

Peter Robson, chairman of Unlimited Builders LLC, said his Kaua'i-based company is "excited to get going" on the Wailua Bridge project. He's optimistic that the company will get state permission to work in the evening during significant portions of the project, which should minimize the impact on daytime traffic, he said.

Much preparation work will come before the cane haul bridge has to be closed to traffic, Robson said. The closure could last from two to five months, as segments of the pre-fabricated bridge are assembled and attached to the bridge.

Acrow Corp. of America, based in New Jersey, is the bridge supplier, said Raymond McCormick, Kaua'i district engineer for the state DOT.

Despite its age, the one-lane Wailua Cane Haul Bridge was load-tested to carry two lanes of traffic before the project was approved, McCormick said.

The bridge was originally built in 1921 as a railway bridge by the Ahukini Terminal and Railway Co. to transport sugarcane from plantations north of the Wailua River. It is one of two former railroad bridges on Kaua'i that has been converted to a highway bridge.