If You Read Nothing Else about Rail, Read This!

We know the typical Oahu resident is probably “up to here” with all the talk about rail. “I thought everything was settled” and “just build it already” are typical reactions when rail comes up among people who don’t have professional pride invested one way or another in the project.

So we’re trying to be helpful in encouraging you to read one more piece – just one more commentary on why Honolulu and all of Oahu will benefit from building the rail system.

Former legislator Bob Nakata, a minister and president of Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE), has a commentary in today’s Honolulu Advertiser. Nakata and FACE are well-known for their committed positions on numerous issues, development proposals and causes.

It could be significant that FACE publicly supports rail as the Governor seems aggressively hesitant to approve the project. Nakata’s high-profile pro-rail endorsement may help give the Governor the “cover” she needs to accept the Final EIS for the largest spending project in state history.

“I hope we can put aside the momentary politics and move forward quickly,” Nakata writes, summing up the circumstances that threaten this project. And though Nakata doesn't address the at-grade vs elevated issue that seems to have captured the Governor's attention, any delay in building the system above ground as planned will surely kill it, for reasons we've mentioned repeatedly at Yes2Rail that you're invited to read by clicking on our "aggregation site" link, at right.