By Michelle Railey
The interstate on Hawaii’s O’ahu known as the H-3 runs 15.32 miles. It includes some of the most breathtaking scenery on the island. It starts on the leeward (west) side of the island at H-1 near Halawa, incorporates Hawaii’s longest tunnels (the Tetsuo Harano tunnels), and ends at Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s main gate on the windward (eastern) side of the island. H-3 took 37 years to build and was opened on December 12, 1997. The cost was about 1.3 billion to create this highway. It’s an absolute joy to drive.
You can read more about it at Hawaii Magazine, ”How the Interstate H-3 Came to Be”
If you travel to Hawaii and don’t rent a car so you can drive the island, don’t forget you can ride all over the darn place on TheBus* (public bus, very clean) for only $5.50 per day (day pass rate current as of November 2021). As beautiful as the resorts and tourist-y areas are, your visit to O’ahu will be even better viewing the mountains and beaches around the island that can only be seen by driving or riding.
Or hiking. But that’s for someone else to talk about.
*Note: Regarding TheBus, you can pay by cash when you board. Otherwise, you will need to visit a Foodland, 7-11, or Wal-Mart to get a HOLO card. You can put any amount on the card and even manage and top it up online. Unfortunately, you can’t , at this time, have a virtual HOLO card on your phone. So just be aware of that.
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