HONOLULU -- Last year, when Kapolei residents wanted development blocked because of the bad traffic it would cause, the area's biggest landowner decided to build new roads on its own. However, the government did not respond as urgently with permit help.

"They didn't build it for the amount of people and the projects, the housing projects, that was going to be in this area. So, it takes at most an hour to get to your house," Makakilo resident Gay Lorch said.

The main problem in Kapolei is that just one thoroughfare ties together the office and retail centers between two inadequate highway interchanges, even with many people avoiding the area at peak times.

"Just try get to away from it. Don't travel at that time," Lorch said.

"It's horrible. The traffic goes all the way from the top of the mountain in Makakilo all the way down to the high school at Kapolei," Makakilo resident Winona Costeles said.

A year ago Campbell Estate pledged to build a new road, bypassing the retail congestion and to put ramps for west side traffic at the main Kapolei interchange.

Campbell Estate did a design to improve this interchange, but it was rejected by the state and now the state is saying it needs to go to the federal government for approval and no one knows how long that will take.

As for the bypass road, city permits requested six months ago have not been issued.

The city permits boss told KITV 4 News that he will now fast-track the bypass road permits and could clear the way for construction in a few weeks. Campbell Estate said if that really happens, the road could be built in a year.