Interstate H-201

Interstate H-201
Moanalua Freeway
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap H-201 highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of H-1
Maintained by HDOT
Length	4.10 mi[1] (6.60 km)
Existed	1989–present
History	Signed in 2004
Major junctions
West end	Route 99 in Aiea
	H-1 / H-3 in Hālawa
East end	H-1 in Honolulu
Location
Counties	Honolulu
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Routes in Hawaii ← Route 200 → Route 220 ← Route 76 Route 78 → Route 80

Interstate H-201 (H-201) is the only auxiliary Interstate Highway located outside the Contiguous United States, serving the island of O‘ahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The H-201 designation is also known as the Moanalua Freeway. The 4.1-mile-long (6.6 km) loop route connects exits 13 and 19 on H-1, passing Fort Shafter, Tripler Army Medical Center, and Red Hill.

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

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 H-201 to the Interstate Highway System on November 1, 1989.^[3] The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) 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.^{[citation needed]} HDOT originally asked the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in June 1990 to approve the freeway as H-1A in an application to AASHTO's Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering, the committee which approves Interstate Highway designations.^[4] HDOT resubmitted a request later that year to number it as H-101, and AASHTO approved it as H-201 on December 8, 1990.^[5] The highway was initially designated H-1A, but AASHTO policy does not generally allow alphabetic suffixes in Interstate numbers.^[6] The final designation, H-201, conforms to the general rule for three-digit Interstate loop routes that uses an even initial digit.^[5]

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 (because it has four characters, longer than the one to three characters of any other Interstate, it is necessary to use the thinnest font to render the number, 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^[3]

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.^[3]

Route Description[]

From east to west, H-201 starts after splitting from H-1 in Honolulu's Kalihi Kai neighborhood, spending most of its length as a six to eight-lane freeway, with a speed limit averaging 50 MPH. From this point it takes a gently curving path westward, interchanging with Funston Road to service Fort Shafter. Heading into the Monalua Gardens area, it serves as access to the eponymously named attraction, before interchanging with several more roads, coming to an end at Route 99.

Exit list[]

The entire route is in Honolulu County.

Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Aiea	0.0	0.0	—	Route 99 west – Pearl City, Pearlridge	Continues as Route 99
Halawa			–	Stadium, Aiea	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance via Moanalua Road
	0.5	0.80	1A	H-1 east – Honolulu International Airport, Pearl Harbor	No westbound exit
			1C	H-1 west – Pearl City	No eastbound exit
	0.9	1.4	1B	Halawa, Camp Smith, Stadium	Signed as exit 1E westbound; access via Kahuapaani Street
​	1.4	2.3	1C	H-3 east – Kaneohe	Signed as exit 1D westbound; exit 1B on H-3
Honolulu	2.4	3.9	2	Moanalua Valley, Salt Lake, Red Hill	Access via Ala Kapuna and Ala Napunani Streets
	3.7	6.0	3	Route 7310 (Puuloa Road) – Tripler Hospital, Airport
	4.5	7.2	4	Ahua Street – Fort Shafter	No number designation on eastbound exit
	4.6	7.4	—	H-1 east – Honolulu	Exit 19B on Interstate H-1
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Route transition

See also[]

•  Hawaii portal
•  U.S. Roads portal

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate H-201.

Route map:

• Photos of Interstate H-201 at Hawaii Highways
• Exit list for Interstate H-201 at Hawaii Highways