KIHEI — It's not deja vu, the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge boardwalk is in the midst of yet another delay.

Work began in December on the long-awaited parking lot for the even longer-awaited boardwalk along North Kihei Road.

But because of unexpectedly high rainfall levels and subsequent flooding in the past month or so, the project is stalled again, said refuge manager Glynnis Nakai. Still, Nakai said she is confident that the flooding is almost entirely receded and contractor Jennings Pacific will be back to work on the parking lot soon.

The lot and boardwalk, the latter of which tourists and residents have been using despite the park's "closed" signs, should be open to the public in another month or maybe longer, depending on the weather, Nakai said.

In the meantime, she asks that people continue to be patient and stay out of the construction area. Jennings Pacific crews also ceased work in late February.

"There certainly has been a number of roadblocks, but it's getting there," she said.

Nakai said she does not know how much more, if anything, the flooding and delays have added to the overall budget.

The parking area will provide four parallel parking stalls, two big stalls for buses and eight diagonal stalls along North Kihei Road. Work on the lot began in December, but Jennings Pacific had to stop its crews and redesign the parking, Nakai said.

The northwest corner of the lot flooded, she said. And that part of the wetlands does not always get standing water, Nakai said. That is an area that the public for years would park their cars to go to the beach.

The new design uses a higher grade for what will be an asphalt-topped lot along with taller concrete curbs to keep out the water, she said. The contractors had to remove some slabs of sidewalk concrete that were damaged by the flooded ground.

Almost 1-1/2 years ago, the 2,200-foot boardwalk was completed - for a second time - in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Federal Highway Administration. But it has remained closed while construction of the parking lot was halted during an initial redesign required by a law.

The project also suffered a funding shortfall and had to acquire special permits from the state Department of Health's Water Quality Branch. The permits were needed for the project to be built in an area subject to coastal flooding.

The $2.2 million project was first completed in 2003, but the plastic decking and handrails used in its construction splintered and didn't hold nails. Much of the boardwalk, which was first designed in 1995, had to be rebuilt.

The lot originally would have avoided the flood area by cutting into the dunes on the southeast end of the boardwalk. In 1998, though, the Maui County Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the grading of dunes, and that forced the first redesign of the parking lot.

The 691-acre Kealia refuge is one of the last remaining natural wetlands in the Hawaiian archipelago. The most recent federal omnibus spending bill from Congress also included $750,000 to build a visitor center and headquarters.

There was no word on where that project would be built in Kealia refuge.

No matter what setbacks befall the boardwalk project, Nakai said she remains optimistic and excited about its completion this spring.

"We just want to make sure there isn't any misinformation about the progress of the project," she said.