The biggest news of the week has been so long in coming it has history written all over it: Construction on a Honolulu grade-separated rail project will begin in 2 days on April 23.
Yesterday’s announcement by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) said all
necessary state and federal requirements have been met, and drilling for the
concrete foundation shafts and support columns will begin near Farrington
Highway in East Kapolei.
“This
significant milestone for the rail project moves us closer to providing Oahu
residents with an alternative to sitting in horrific traffic congestion,” said
HART executive director and CEO Dan Grabauskas. “We want to
thank the Federal Transit Administration and state agencies that have worked so
closely with us on all of the necessary approvals. This is indeed a great day
for Oahu.”
Somewhere
(and there may be an argument on exactly where that is), former Mayor Frank F.
Fasi is growling, “It’s about time!” The longest-serving mayor in Honolulu
history was rail’s biggest champion during his six terms in City Hall’s corner
office.
Frank
probably is throwing his shaka trademark around, too, as was his habit at nearly every
occasion, including election victories (at right). He brought his final effort
to build rail close to fruition before a last-minute City Council decision
killed it by one vote 20 years ago. Council drama is ramping up as Council
members deal with construction budgets and bonding issues in the weeks ahead.
Others with
responsibility for building rail have no doubts about the importance of
building rail. HART Chairwoman Carrie Okinaga commented on the construction news
yesterday: “Keeping the project on schedule is critical to keeping our costs
within budget so we welcome this news. The HART Board of Directors remains
strongly committed to ensuring the project stays on track and is completed on
time and within budget.”
Moving Rail
Forward
Leaders of
30 businesses and organizations have formed a new group that will raise funds
and voices in support of Honolulu rail as the debate on the project
intensifies. Richard Dahl, president and CEO of the James Campbell Co., will
co-chair the Move Oahu Forward group with Constance Lau, who holds the same
positions at Hawaiian Electric Industries.
Despite a
mayoral race that pits one anti-rail and two pro-rail candidates against one
another, MOF won’t be a political advocacy organization. MOF already has hosted
one event for 150 businesses and community leaders.
“This is a
critical time for the rail transit project,” Mr. Dahl told the HonoluluStar-Advertiser (subscription). “We lost the opportunity before, and we cannot
afford to lose it again…. We have confidence in the (FTA’s) review process and
believe Honolulu has a very viable project with a sound financial plan.” Added Ms. Lau:
“We have a
rare opportunity to improve our transportation system on Oahu and secure a
better quality of life for many in our community. The Honolulu rail transit
project is an investment in our future…. Rail transit is about a long-term
vision for Hawaii. It is for our children and grandchildren.”
Oahu’s
Non-Voters
We also devoted considerable space this week questioning the validity of a public
opinion survey on rail conducted by Civil Beat that excluded non-voters from
the survey’s population sample. Our Thursday post cited scholarly studies that
reported significant variances in attitudes among voters vs. non-voters on
numerous issues.
Civil Beat
asked only voters what they think about Honolulu rail and allegedly found
slippage from previous levels of majority support for the project. By not even
inquiring among non-voters, the half of the population more likely to be
dependent on public transit, Civil Beat’s survey results were highly likely to
be inaccurate on the rail issue.
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