Interstate H-201

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Interstate H201
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Length: 4.10 mi[1] (6.60 km)
Formed: 1989 (signed in 2004)
West end: H-1 in Hālawa, HI
Major
junctions:
H-3 in Hālawa, HI
East end: H-1 in Honolulu, HI
Routes in Hawaii

Interstate H-201 (H-201) is an auxiliary Interstate highway located on the island of O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The H-201 is also known as the Moanalua Freeway. The 4-mile loop route connects exits 13 and 19 on Interstate H-1, passing Fort Shafter, Tripler Army Medical Center, and Red Hill.

Despite being designated an Interstate in 1989, until recently the route was a "hidden" Interstate signed only as Route 78. Interstate signs started appearing in mid-2004. The section of the Moanalua Freeway between Route 99 (Kamehameha Highway) and the western Interstate H-1 interchange remains designated as Route 78.

Contents

[edit] History

Major cities
Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
Letters in H-201 shields require thinner text, such as on signage like this one.
Letters in H-201 shields require thinner text, such as on signage like this one.

The length of H-201 was originally designated as Route 78.[2]

The Federal Highway Administration approved the addition of Interstate H-201 to the Interstate Highway System on November 1, 1989. The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation asked that the Moanalua Freeway be reclassified as an Interstate so that the interchange with H-1 at the eastern end could conform to federal highway standards. At first, the highway was initially designated H-1A, but federal highway policy does not allow alphabetic suffixes in Interstate numbers. The final designation, H-201, conforms to the general rules for three-digit Interstate "loop" routes.

Until 2004, the state Department of Transportation chose not to sign H-201 as such, instead retaining the designation Route 78. Reasons given included:

  • inability to render the new route number in a legible manner (it is necessary to use the thinnest font to render the number, as seen above, and the shield is wider than the standard interstate shield)
  • encouraging motorists to use the newer and better designed H-1
  • avoiding confusion with Interstate H-2

In July 2004, in conjunction with a major resurfacing of both sides of the freeway, it was decided to bring the signage in line with the official designation.

[edit] Exit list

County Location Mile # Destinations Notes
Honolulu Halawa 0.00 Route 99 west – Pearlridge, Pearl City Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Aloha Stadium, Aiea Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Eastern terminus of Route 78; western terminus of H-201
1A H-1 east – Honolulu International Airport, Pearl Harbor No westbound exit
H-1 west – Pearl City No eastbound exit
1B Halawa Valley, Aloha Stadium, Halawa Heights, Camp Smith, Halawa Signed as exit 1E westbound
1C H-3 east – Kaneohe Signed as exit 1D westbound
2 Red Hill, Salt Lake, Moanalua Valley
Honolulu 3 Route 7310 (Puuloa Road) / Paa Street - Tripler Hospital, Honolulu International Airport
4 King Street, Ahua Street – Fort Shafter
H-1 east – Honolulu Eastbound exit and westbound entrance

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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