3 Down, 2 To Go; Hearings Move to Waipahu

This board and many others on the Honolulu rapid transit project

will be on display at the Waipahu and Bishop Museum public hearings.

Three public hearings have been completed on the Honolulu transit project's Draft Environmental Impact Statement.  Tuesday night's event was in Salt Lake; 14 persons testified, with many more listening in the audience, discussing the project with representatives and reviewing the many display boards, like the one above.

Here’s the schedule for the two remaining hearings on Wednesday and Thursday evenings:

• Dec. 10 – 6 to 8 p.m., Filipino Community Center, 94-428 Mokuola Street, Waipahu.
• Dec. 11 – 6 to 8 p.m., Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street.

The public comment period will remain open until January 7. Comments can be given in several ways -- verbally in the hearing room to the hearing officer (and recorded by a stenographer); verbally in a private session with a stenographer in an adjacent room; in writing on a comment form that can be left in a locked box at the hearing; at the project website and in written form sent to the Department of Transportation Services, 650 South King Street, 3rd Floor, Honolulu, HI 96813. Comments must be received or postmarked by 4:30 p.m. on January 7, 2009.

Copies of the Draft EIS are on display at the hearings and also can be reviewed at State libraries, the City library, the Department of Transportation Services (at the above address) and at the Rapid Transit Division office, 1099 Alakea Street, Suite 1700.

DEIS Chapter List

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Honolulu fixed guideway transit project can be read at your leisure at the project’s website. Here’s a list of the contents; go to this blog's December 4th post for links :

Executive Summary
Chapter 1 – Background, Purpose and Need
Chapter 2 – Alternatives Considered
Chapter 3 – Transportation (existing and future 2030 transportation system conditions, service characteristics, performance and transportation-related effects of the Project’s alternatives)
Chapter 4 – Environmental Analysis, Consequences and Mitigation
Chapter 5 – Section 4(f) Evaluation (protection of public parklands and recreational lands, wildlife refuges and historic sites of national, state or local significance)
Chapter 6 – Cost and Financial Analsys
Chapter 7 – Evaluation of Alternatives
Chapter 8 – Comments and Coordination
Appendix A – Conceptual Alignment Plans and Profiles
Appendix B – Conceptual Right-of-Way Plans
Appendix C – Construction Approach
Appendix D – Record of Agency Correspondence and Coordination
Appendix E – Record of Public and Stakeholder Correspondence and Coordination