Interstate H-201

Interstate H-201
Moanalua Freeway
Route information
Maintained by HDOT
Length:	4.10 mi[1] (6.60 km)
History:	1989–present, signed in 2004
Major junctions
West end:	H-1 in Hālawa, HI
	H-3 in Hālawa, HI
East end:	H-1 in Honolulu, HI
Highway system
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business 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 (6.4 km) 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. Because this roadway was formerly an unsigned Interstate designation, it was commonly thought to be the only segment of freeway in Hawaii to not have an Interstate designation.

History

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. 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 the following:

• 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.

Exit list

The entire route is in Honolulu County.

Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Halawa	0.0		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
	0.5	1A	H-1 east – Honolulu International Airport, Pearl Harbor	No westbound exit
			H-1 west – Pearl City	No eastbound exit
	0.9	1B	Halawa Valley, Aloha Stadium, Halawa Heights, Camp Smith, Halawa	Signed as exit 1E westbound
	1.4	1C	H-3 east – Kaneohe	Signed as exit 1D westbound
	2.4	2	Aiea, Hawaii, Salt Lake, Moanalua Valley
Honolulu	3.7	3	Route 7310 (Puuloa Road) / Paa Street - Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu International Airport
	4.5	4	Ahua Street-Pearl Harbor – Fort Shafter
			H-1 east – Honolulu	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. ^ Route Log - Auxiliary Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways - Table 2
2. ^ Rand McNally (1989). Rand McNally Road Atlas (Map). http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/Hawaii/randmcnally_ra_1989_003.html. Retrieved 2007-09-09. 

See also

• Interstate H-1

External links

• Photos of Interstate H-201
• Exit list for Interstate H-201