UH West Oʻahu addressing need for more parking with 260 more spaces

Photo of sign announcing parking lot expansion in foreground, vehicles and worksite in background

The number of paved parking spaces will increase by 70 percent at UH West Oʻahu as a result of work underway to expand the campus’ parking lot.

Plans call for the addition of about 260 spaces to the 366 parking spaces in the existing parking lot. The construction will include other work to improve safety and encourage use of more fuel efficient or sustainable vehicles such as a moped and motorcycle parking, and four-to-six electric vehicle charging stalls.

Picture of earth moving equipment and dirt field with caption The project will add paved parking spaces to a 2.7-acre area west of the current lot

The project will add paved parking spaces to a 2.7-acre area west of the current lot

The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of November and addresses a need for more parking spaces to accommodate current enrollment and future growth. The campus’ 3,082 student population is forecast to grow by roughly two and a half times to 8,000 in the year 2028. Currently there are not enough paved parking spaces at peak class times, causing students to use the campus’ temporary overflow parking lot, which is unpaved.

Besides adding more spaces on the 2.7-acre site on the west side of the current lot, the project will also include the installation of a new walkway along the campus’ service road for pedestrians headed to the Classroom Building.  The project will also include the filling in of an existing drainage ditch and sediment basin, and the digging of a new ditch that will connect with Hunehune Gulch.

UH West Oʻahu’s Planning and Facilities department will save money on the project through use of materials from other projects in the area. Last fall Planning and Facilities worked with the contractor for the Farrington Highway resurfacing project to have several thousand cubic yards of milled road material stock-piled near the overflow lot. Some of this was used to level and maintain the temporary overflow lot, and also will be used for the expanded parking lot project.

The project will also make use of 12,000 cubic yards of dirt from stockpile created from grading work on the HART Park and Ride project.

Image courtesy of UHWO Staff