Route 1/Kapolei Freeway

Route 1, otherwise known as the Kapolei Freeway, is the principle transportation link in the Wiamae City/Chain of Islands Metro Area. The freeway connects nearly all the major communities, including Wiamae City, Waimahu, Bay City, Westpoint, Weegee, and Truitt. The freeway has many complex interchanges and a long bridge over the Strait of Kapolei.

## Route Description

The freeway begins at an interchange with Route 19 in Bay City. From there, the freeway crosses a river before entering Waimahu. Through Waimahu, the freeway runs on a bi-level viaduct above Petunia Street. After an s-curve, the freeway has an interchange with Route 201/Alexander Memorial Freeway. This interchange is often considered the grandest on the server, being a complete four-level stack interchange.

By the time Route 1 interchanges with Route 201, the freeway is in Westpoint. The stretch through Westpoint is generally sunken below ground level and has become a major target for vandalism in recent times. The freeway then enters the Northridge neighborhood of Wiamae City, before making a tight curve and crossing a channel into downtown. In Downtown, a complete interchange exists with Beach Avenue as well as a dangerous, low-speed exit onto Harbor Avenue.

An incomplete interchange with Route 2, where only westbound traffic can enter said route, exists, after which the freeway runs below grade through the heart of Wiamae Island crossing under Mokolua Street and the Wiamae Island Railway. After an exit at a basketweave interchange with Waimalano Boulevard, the freeway enters the Kapolei Channel Bridge. This bridge is three lanes per direction throughout the crossing and is subject to high wind.

Upon exiting the bridge, the freeway enters Weegee Island, with an exit to the island's namesake town. After crossing another river, the freeway enters Rockweiler where an interchange with Route 3 exists. The freeway rapidly changes character beyond this point, narrowing to four lanes and having a grassy median in sections. After an exit in Truitt, the freeway ends until future expansion is complete.

## History

The Kapolei Freeway was one of the first structures built in the world, with initial work beginning in February of 2022. By March, the Kapolei Channel Bridge was completed and Weegee gained freeway access. Extensions to Northridge and Rockweiler were complete by April of 2022, with expansions to Truitt occurring sometime in May. The Westpoint Stack Interchange and Exit 4 in Westpoint were constructed in June, while the final stretch to Bay City was completed in August of the same year.

The Kapolei Freeway originally hosted express lanes between Downtown Wiamae City and Rockweiler. An intermediate exit and entrance existed in Weegee, as well as a direct ramp from Harbor Avenue in Wiamae City to the lanes. In June of 2022, the express lanes were deemed unnecessary, unrealistic, and space-consuming, so they were converted to normal travel lanes. The interchange with Harbor Avenue was reconfigured into a standard left exit, with a basketweave design to facilitate exits to Waimalano Boulevard.

## Exits

Presently, all exits along the freeway are unnumbered. A numbering scheme is under construction, with necessary sign modifications expected to begin construction in September 2022. The below list uses the future numbering scheme.

1. Route 19 in Bay City
2. Petunia St in Waimahu
3. Route 201 in Westpoint
4. Main St/Route 2 in Westpoint
5. Northridge Blvd in Wiamae City
6. Beach Ave in Wiamae City
7. Mokolua St (WBND, 7R), Harbor Ave (WBND, 7L), Harbor Ave (EBND), all in Wiamae City
8. Waimalano Blvd, Wiamae City
9. Main St, Weegee
10. Rockweiler Blvd, Rockweiler
11. Ascension St, Truitt

## Signage

Signage along the Kapolei Freeway uses an innovative mapart-based signage generated with a website. Signs along the freeway vary widely by age, condition, and color, with newer sign installations from Westpoint westward featuring a more refined, MUTCD-compliant green produced by dithering. Some "newer" signs along the route are styled with an older button-copy style, to mimic signs that have been in service since the 1950s.

Two main styles of highway sign gantry exist along the route. Wiamae City and Westpoint use an older style of corrugated metal poles inspired by those in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Outside of those cities, the standard metal crossbar gantry style is used.

Variable message signs are placed at regular intervals along the freeway from Rockweiler to Westpoint.