$5M low bid for BRT contract

Advertiser Staff

Royal Contracting Co. was the apparent low bidder yesterday on the city's first construction contract for the proposed Bus Rapid Transit line running from Iwilei to Waikiki.

The company's $5 million bid apparently beat out three competitors for the work, which involves improvements to Kuhio Avenue, one of the main arteries to be used by the project's gas-hybrid electric buses. Other bids ranged as high as nearly $6 million.

The city plans to continue awarding bids and doing other work on the initial leg of the BRT system while a court case against the project continues, city Transportation Services Director Cheryl Soon said yesterday.

However, actual construction work is not expected to begin before Feb. 17, when a hearing on a preliminary injunction to stop the project will be heard by U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway.

On Monday, Mollway denied a request for a temporary restraining order that would have halted work on the project until that hearing.

Soon said the city plans to receive and award bids on at least three more phases of the construction contract in coming weeks. In all, more than $20 million worth of contracts will be awarded for the 5.6-mile initial operating segment of the BRT.

"We're definitely moving forward and going ahead with opening up the bid packages," Soon said. "The judge made a clear decision that the TRO was not necessary."

The Alliance for Traffic Improvement, which includes more than 100 individuals and businesses from transportation-related industries in Hawai'i, filed suit against the project, saying it should not proceed because it is connected to the larger BRT that still is pending federal review.

The group opposes the project in part because of what it says will be an adverse effect on existing traffic in Honolulu.

The city says the initial operating segment will not take away any existing traffic lanes for exclusive bus use. BRT opponent Cliff Slater said the city is trying to start on the project to "get a toe in the door" for the next routes, which would involve converting some existing traffic lanes to semi-exclusive use for buses.

Royal Contracting Co. is one of the companies that have agreed to pay fines to the state Campaign Spending Commission in connection with illegal donations to Mayor Jeremy Harris and other politicians. Earlier this year, Royal Contracting and two of its top executives agreed to pay a $20,000 fine.