Kapolei, Hawaii

Kapolei or City of Kapolei is the name of the "Second City" on the Island of O'ahu, located in the ‘Ewa District and the City & County of Honolulu, State of Hawai‘i. The name "kapolei" is derived from that of a nearby cinder cone: Pu‘u o Kapolei—in Hawaiian, pu'u meaning "hill" and kapo lei meaning "beloved Kapo" (a sister of Pele).

The City of Kapolei is being developed as a second urban center for O‘ahu (after Honolulu), the most densely populated island in the Hawai‘i. Much of O‘ahu's population growth is occurring—and future population growth is slated for—the ‘Ewa Plain and southern slopes of the island's central valley: that is the former agricultural lands of ‘Ewa and the mostly gentle slopes between Waipahu on Pearl Harbor and Wahiawa near the center of the island.

Initial construction of residential units began in the late 1980s, with commercial developments following shortly thereafter. Despite ongoing efforts at making Kapolei a self-sufficient city, it remains largely a bedroom community to Honolulu with some major pressing issues. One such issue is the lack of infrastructure improvements, especially roads, resulting in considerable congestion. For example, presently only one major through street serves downtown Kapolei: Farrington Highway. Another issue is that of providing employment. Although the state and city governments and some of Hawai‘i's largest companies have set up significant sub-centers in Kapolei, the rapid population growth in the area has far out-paced local job creation, and a majority of adults living in and near Kapolei must seek employment in Honolulu, causing heavy congestion on the main traffic artery, Interstate H-1. Local proponents of fixed rail mass transit contend that construction of a rail mass transit line to Kapolei would help alleviate traffic on H-1.

Associated with Kapolei are the previously developed communities of Makakilo and Barbers Point Naval Air Station (now Kalaeloa), the industrial area known as Campbell Industrial Park (industrial area of O'ahu) with its deepwater port, Barbers Point Harbor, and the resort community of Ko Olina (formerly West Beach).

Waimānalo Gulch, located inland from Ko Olina, is the landfill for the Island of O‘ahu. It was the center of a major controversy in 2004 as the State Land Use Commission set a deadline for the city to select a new landfill site. In the end, the city decided instead to seek expansion of the existing Waimānalo Gulch site despite political pressure from nearby Ko Olina resort and local lawmakers to place the landfill someplace other than the Leeward Coast.

The U.S. postal code for Kapolei is 96707.

Geography

Kapolei is located at the southern end of the slopes of the Wai‘anae mountain near the town of Makakilo. It is located on the ‘Ewa Plain approximately 25 miles from Honolulu. The Interstate H-1 freeway divides more recently developed Kapolei from Makakilo, and traveling eastward on H-1 connects to Waipahu. In the other direction, the freeway ends about 1 mile west of Kapolei, merging into Farrington Highway (State Rte. 93) to Kahe and then Nānākuli on the Wai'anae Coast. Traveling eastward on Farrington Highway connects to Honouliuli. Exit 1 on H-1 is Kalaeloa Road, the entrance to Barbers Point and Campbell Industrial Park. Less than 1 mile beyond (west of) the merge of H-1 and Farrington Highway is an off ramp and overcrossing to the West O‘ahu resort area of Ko Olina.

To the south, Renton Road connects Kapolei to Kalaeloa and, further east, to 'Ewa Villages.