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Interstate H-3
John A. Burns Freeway
H-3 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained byHDOT
Length	15.32 mi[1] (24.66 km)
Existed	December 12, 1997–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
West end	H-1 inAiea
Major intersections	H-201 in Halawa
East end	Marine Corps Base Hawaii main gate
Location
Country	United States
State	Hawaii
Counties	Honolulu
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Routes in Hawaii
←H-2 →Route 11

Interstate H-3 (H-3) is anInterstate Highway located entirely within the US state ofHawaii on the island ofOʻahu. H-3 is also known as the John A. Burns Freeway, afterthe second governor of Hawaii. It crosses theKoʻolau Range along severalviaducts and through the 5,165-foot-long (1,574 m)Tetsuo Harano Tunnels as well as the much smallerHospital Rock Tunnels.

Despite the number, signage is that of an east–west highway. Its western terminus is at an interchange withH-1 atHalawa nearPearl Harbor. Its eastern end is at the main gate ofMarine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH). This route satisfies the national defense purpose of connecting MCBH with the US Navy port at Pearl Harbor off H-1.

Orders for the freeway were granted in 1960, followed by planning stages. Construction, amid enormous community protest, was begun in the late 1980s, although the road did not open until December 12, 1997. Environmental complaints and legal challenges halted construction at many points. Construction resumed during the late 1980s after a move by US SenatorDaniel Inouye, who, in 1986, had the freeway exempted from mostenvironmental laws^[2] as arider on aDepartment of Defense budget bill.^[3][4]

H-3 was the most expensive Interstate Highway ever built, on a cost-per-mile basis.^[5] Its final cost was $1.3 billion (equivalent to $2.35 billion in 2024^[6]), or approximately $80 million per mile ($50 million/km; equivalent to $145 million per mile [$90 million/km] in 2024^[6]).^[7]

H-3 begins northwest ofDowntown Honolulu at the Halawa Interchange withH-1 and auxiliary routeH-201. The interchange is adjacent toAloha Stadium and northeast ofJoint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, which includesPearl Harbor National Memorial.^[7] H-3 has direct access to H-1, which continues south toDaniel K. Inouye International Airport and west towardPearl City, and an onramp from the Aloha Stadium parking lot.^[8] The freeway travels east along Hālawa Stream and parallel to H-201, which it intersects nearSalt Lake. H-3 then turns northeast and heads towardKoʻolau Range by following Hālawa Valley.^[9]

The freeway then runs onWindward Viaducts through Hālawa Valley for about six miles (9.7 km) until it reaches theTetsuo Harano Tunnels through Koʻolau Range. Once on the eastern end of the tunnel, the freeway follows a viaduct built along the side ofHaʻikū Valley until the Kaneohe Interchange withRoute 63 (Likelike Highway) which leads into the town ofKāneʻohe. The freeway then continues past the Kaneohe Interchange to the Halekou Interchange withRoute 83 (Kamehameha Highway) and from there to the Kauila interchange withRoute 65 (Mokapu Saddle Road) and the Mokapu Interchange serving Kaneohe Bay Drive. After the Mokapu Interchange, H-3 spans a causeway betweenKāneʻohe Bay and Nuʻupia Pond and ends at the main gate ofMCBH.

A set of Interstate Highways on Oʻahu were approved for funding by the US Congress in 1960, a year after Hawaii was admitted as a state. A corridor connecting theHonolulu area to Kāneʻohe was included in the plan and was designated as "Interstate H-3" by theBureau of Public Roads (now theFederal Highway Administration) on August 29, 1960.^[10][11]

Since its inception, the H-3 freeway has been mired in controversy. The original route was not set to be in current Hālawa Valley, but rather, the nearest major valley due east, in theMoanaluaahupuaʻa. The Damon family hurried to create the Moanalua Gardens Foundation in 1970 to join the forces of all political and cultural groups who opposed the freeway's construction through their tract of land.^{[citation needed]} The foundation's pinnacle no-build argument was the need to remove a significant historical stone containing ancient petroglyphs, Pohaku ka Luahine, which, to this day, stands intact along the Moanalua valley trail. Success came their way as this freeway route was dropped, but H-3 would merely be rerouted.

Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) cultural practitioners continue to call for the highway's removal since it runs through an area of extreme cultural significance. The Bishop Museum, which did the historical and archeological research, has published extensive reports that generally ascribe lower cultural significance to these sites relative to other sites in Hawaii.^[12][13] Many contend that the freeway is "cursed" due to its destruction of religious sites^[14][15] and is therefore harmful even to those who traverse it.^[16][17]

Ongoing environmental concerns includeweed encroachment,light pollution,asbestos pollution, water and streamlife problems, and a host of other concerns; among these are the ongoing decline of native owls calledpueo and other native birds. For example, theOʻahu ʻalauahio (Paroreomyza maculata), whose last known home was Halawa, has had no sightings since H-3 construction was completed.^[12][18]

Some longtime residents ofKoʻolaupoko and otherEast Shore communities continue to object to the freeway's developmental impacts on their communities. Among their primary fears are urbanization on the scale of Honolulu via the freeway, which has the potential to bring heavy traffic and growth into their traditionally quiet neighborhoods, as well as affecting the value of their homes in the relatively rural (until recently) communities.^{[citation needed]}

Conversely, this road is considered an engineering wonder by its admirers. It is often compared to various cinematic landscapes inStar Wars and other movies, and it does sometimes reduce travel time for cross-island commuters, which has allowed for increased real estate development and prices in windward Oʻahu.^{[citation needed]}

One anecdote relates to the elevated section passing throughHaʻikū Valley. In this valley, the viaduct passed beneath the antenna of aUS Coast Guard radio transmission facility. It was thought that the energy field from the antenna could interfere withheart pacemakers—a potential detriment to drivers and passengers on the roadway. A giant metal cage was designed to surround the roadway through the valley. Before H-3 was opened, the US Coast Guard closed their transmitting facility, obviating the need for the cage. Although the full cage was never built, buried within the roadway was the bottom of the cage. HDOT decided to not construct this steel mesh prior to opening of the freeway.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2020, a section of the H-3 freeway (theTetsuo Harano Tunnel) was closed for two days to serve as aCOVID-19 surge testing site for up to 10,000 people. The freeway was selected to allow for long queuing lanes leading up to testing stations at the Kaneohe and Halawa tunnel portals.^[19]

The entire route is inHonolulu County.

Location	mi[20]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Aiea	0.00	0.00	—	H-1 east –Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam,Airport	Exit 13 on H-1
			1A	H-1 west –Pearl City	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	0.13	0.21	1B	H-201 east –Honolulu	No westbound entrance; no number designation on eastbound exit; exit 1C on H-201
	0.51	0.82	1C	Stadium,Camp Smith,Halawa,Aiea	Westbound exit only; access viaRoute 7241
Ko'olau Range			Tetsuo Harano Tunnels,Hospital Rock Tunnels
Kaneohe	8.23	13.24	9	Route 63 north (Likelike Highway)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	9.91	15.95	11	Route 83 (Kamehameha Highway) –Kaneohe,North Shore
	12.30	19.79	14	Route 630 –Kailua	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; signed asRoute 65
	13.83	22.26	15	Kaneohe Bay Drive
			–	Kaneohe MCBH	Continuation beyond Kaneohe Bay Drive
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

• Media related toInterstate H-3 at Wikimedia Commons
• H-3: The Island Interstate (1993)
• Dunford, Bruce (July 16, 1995)."Hawaii Freeway 25 Years Overdue as Costs Spin Out of Control".Los Angeles Times. Associated Press.Archived from the original on November 12, 2020.

• Interstate Highway System
• Interstate Highways in Hawaii
• Transportation in Honolulu County, Hawaii

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