The City and County of Honolulu is in the process of updating traffic signs across Oʻahu to reduce speeds and improve safety in school zones.
Speeds in school zones will change from maximum speeds of 25 miles per hour anytime children are present to 20 miles per hour between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on school days.
According to the city's Complete Streets Administrator Renee Espiau, who spoke during a press conference Thursday afternoon, the project will install or update approximately 10,000 traffic signs at more than 200 schools on Oʻahu. Signs will be installed by Royal Contracting and the Department of Facility Maintenance.
So far, signs have been installed in Waipahu near August Ahrens Elementary School and Waipahu Elementary School, Hawaiʻi Kai Drive outside Kamiloʻiki Elementary, Kalaheo at St. Anthony School in Kailua, Waimano Home Road outside Pearl City Elementary and Hoʻomaʻemaʻe outside Pearl City Highlands Elementary.
The Honolulu City Council appropriated $150,000 to the Department of Transportation Services for traffic speed reduction around school zones in the 2026 budget. The State of Hawaiʻi appropriated $500,000 to the Safe Routes to School Program. Espiau said that this will be a multi-year, multi-million-dollar project to complete and bring school zone signage up to federal standards.
DTS Director Roger Morton said Thursday, “Nothing is more important than our keiki. Every child deserves to travel to or from school safety, whether they walk, bike, ride the bus or ride by car.”
Morton explained that schools were prioritized based on enrollment, pedestrian activity, crash history and documented speeding concerns.
The initiative fulfills an ordinance introduced by councilmembers Esther Kiaʻāina and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam in August 2024 to promote public safety on roadways, and aligns with the Complete Streets and Oʻahu Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to end traffic violence on Oʻahu.
Honolulu Police Department District 3 Acting Maj. Donn Manzano said that HPD will be enforcing the posted speed limits in school zones across Oʻahu.
“Slow down, stay alert and please show patience and aloha behind the wheel. Just these small changes can make a very big difference in keeping our community safe,” Manzano said.
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