Interstate H-201

Interstate H-201
Moanalua Freeway
Route information
Maintained by HDOT
Length:	4.10 mi (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
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Routes in Hawaii ← Route 200 Route 201 → ← Route 76 Route 78 Route 80 →

Interstate H-201 (H-201) is the only auxiliary Interstate Highway located on 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 a 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.

The Federal Highway Administration approved the addition of H-201 to the Interstate Highway System on November 1, 1989. 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. 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. HDOT resubmitted a request later that year to number it as H-101, and AASHTO approved it as H-201 on December 8, 1990. The highway was initially designated H-1A, but AASHTO policy does not generally allow alphabetic suffixes in Interstate numbers. The final designation, H-201, conforms to the general rule for three-digit Interstate loop routes that uses an even initial digit.

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, 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	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Aiea	0.0	0.0	—	Route 99 – Pearl City, Aloha Stadium, Pearlridge	Western terminus
Halawa	0.5	0.80	1A	H-1 – Honolulu International Airport, Pearl Harbor, Pearl City	Transition point in signage between Route 78 and H-201; no eastbound exit; H-1 exit 13
	0.9	1.45	1B	Kahuapaani Street – Halawa, Camp Smith	Signed as exit 1E westbound
​	1.4	2.3	1C	H-3 east – Kaneohe	Signed as exit 1D westbound; H-3 west exit 1B
Honolulu	2.4	3.9	2	Moanalua Valley, Salt Lake, Aiea
	3.7	6.0	3	Route 7310 (Puuloa Road) / Jarett White Road – Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu International Airport
	4.5	7.2	4	Ahua Street – Fort Shafter	No number designation on exit
	4.6	7.4	—	H-1 east – Honolulu	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; eastern terminus; H-1 west exit 19B
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Route transition

See also

• Hawaii portal
• U.S. Roads portal

External links

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