State, city proposes $2.6B rail transit system

	Poll: Do you support a tax increase to pay for a new rail transit system?
•	Map (opens in new window): Proposed light rail transit system

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

State and city officials announced plans yesterday to build a $2.6 billion light-rail transit system for O'ahu, an undertaking they said will require a tax increase.

Artist rendering courtesy state Department of Transportation

"This clearly will require revenues beyond what we have today," Gov. Linda Lingle said. "We'll have to have some sort of tax increase to pay for them. I want to be up front about that right now."

The new rail line would run for 22 miles from Kapolei to Iwilei, where riders would then board buses moving throughout urban Honolulu, members of the governor's task force on transportation said yesterday.

It is designed to provide an alternative for commuters from growing Central and Leeward O'ahu, where thousands of new homes are planned and the population is expected to double in coming years.

Lingle, who campaigned last year on a promise not to raise taxes, yesterday said there's no other way to pay for the needed transportation improvements.

"If the trade-off is delivering a solution to the traffic problems, let each one of us be judged," she said.

Bus commuters waiting for their rides home at Ala Moana Center yesterday had mixed reactions to the proposal.

"That's a lot of money and a long time," said Zach Callaghan, a Mililani resident. "And a tax increase? I don't like that. However, I can see how it would help a lot with the whole traffic problem. Yes, I'd support it."

Francis Hayashi of Kaka'ako doesn't think the rail system is the way to go.

"If everyone on the island will pay, it should benefit more than that side of the island," she said.

Although financial details for the two large projects have not been determined, options include increases in state fuel and excise taxes or vehicle registration, rental car or other fees. Federal money will be sought to pay 50 percent or 80 percent of the projects' costs, Lingle said.

"The devil in the next several years will be in the details," said task force member Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Portlock).

Officials plan to use a 1992 light-rail plan as a starting point for the new project. That will allow local officials to complete an amended environmental impact study of the project in four years — 18 months faster than starting from scratch, state Transportation Director Rod Haraga said.

Construction on the first phase of the project, possibly running from Leeward Community College to Aloha Stadium, could begin in 2008 and cost about $120 million per mile, Haraga said.

By 2018, officials hope to see the line extend from Kapolei to Iwilei, with supporting bus service feeding into several new development sites along the route. Future spurs could run to Waikiki and the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, Lingle said.

At the bus stop, some people thought the line should be extended quickly.

"If they're going to raise my taxes, I'd like for it to at least be something I could use," said Nanakuli resident Liana Ortega, who thought the line should extend further into urban Honolulu.

Cassandra Thomas of Hawai'i Kai also thought a usable rail system should focus more on the Honolulu area.

"It should go places where the most people go," she said. "Honolulu is where most people live, it's the most congested and it has the most traffic."

The proposed alignment is largely along Farrington and Kamehameha highways. It does not run through any residential neighborhoods and does not require taking away any traffic lanes, Lingle said. The technology for the elevated rail system has not been determined.

The city would be primarily responsible for building and operating the rail system, which could cost an estimated $22 million a year to run.

The Nimitz Highway "flyover" project could be completed much sooner and at much less expense, Haraga said. It would be a two-lane, reversible express route, taking cars toward downtown in the morning and 'ewa-bound in the afternoon.

Using a 1997 proposal as a base for the flyover project, officials could complete a new environmental impact statement for the highway project running above Nimitz from the Ke'ehi Interchange to Pacific Street in two years, start construction by the end of 2005, and have it operational by 2009.

"It could be designed so that eventually it would have the capacity to carry light rail instead of cars," Haraga said.

Lingle said her administration will ask the state Legislature for $1.25 million next year to pay for environmental impact studies for the two projects.

Lingle and members of the task force, made up of elected and appointed state, city and federal officials, said building a city-state consensus on the light-rail plan represented a great step forward for transportation projects. Two previous plans for light rail have been killed, including one in 1992 that was stopped by a 5-4 City Council vote on how to pay for it.

"We've just taken a big step toward the only viable long-term solution for O'ahu's traffic problem," said City Council Chairman Gary Okino. "We couldn't afford to wait another six or 12 years."

City and state officials said they were confident the light-rail plan would win acceptance and be heavily used by residents.

"If you look at all the other cities on the West Coast that have built rail in the last few years, they've all seen a great rise in the proportion of people using rapid transit," said Rep. Galen Fox, R-23rd (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Kaka'ako). "Honolulu's development is stretched out along a natural corridor that is appropriate for rail transit."

The rail plan is not meant to be a panacea for all O'ahu's traffic woes, though.

"It's not just rail or buses or more freeways," said Sen. Mark Moses, R-40th (Makakilo, Kapolei, Royal Kunia). "They all have to work together to make a difference."

While the state has no immediate plans to expand O'ahu's highway system, it does have several large projects planned in coming months to help alleviate congestion. They include the widening of the H-1 Freeway Waimalu viaduct, widening of Fort Weaver Road and the start of construction on the North-South Road from Kapolei to H-1 Freeway.

The convergence of rail, highway and bus traffic would create a major new transportation hub in Iwilei, near the site of the old O'ahu Railway & Land Terminal Building, where the state also is planning to build a 21-story residential complex for senior citizens.

"We'll have to look at the needs for parking and other facilities in the area," said Cheryl Soon, the city's director of transportation services.

Lingle emphasized yesterday that the new rail and highway projects do not conflict with the city's plans for the first phase of a bus rapid transit system running from Iwilei to Waikiki.

However, "I won't support any project that takes existing lanes off the roadway," she said. Later phases of the in-town BRT call for converting existing traffic lanes on several major thoroughfares into dedicated bus lanes, but it's not clear if or when work will go forward on those parts of the project.

Advertiser staff writer Karen Blakeman contributed to this report. Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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