Posted at 1:01 p.m., Thursday, June 22, 2006
City gives early look at Honolulu mass transit
Advertiser Staff
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At community meetings starting Saturday, city officials will release more information on various transit alternatives, including comparisons of the cost and potential ridership for various segments of the fixed-rail proposals and computer simulations of how they would look. Meetings will be held: • Saturday, 8:30-10 a.m. at Kapolei Hale • Monday, 5:30-7 p.m., Mission Memorial Auditorium (near Honolulu Hale) • Wednesday, 6-7:30 p.m., Aliamanu Middle School cafeteria |
Without using specific figures, city officials said ridership for the new system would likely be highest in urban Honolulu and construction costs would be most significant in the outlying areas between Kapolei and Aloha Stadium.
However, the city's chief engineer, Toru Hamayasu, said he is encouraged by projections that show the costs for putting much of the system underground through downtown Honolulu are lower than expected.
New technology makes the cost of tunneling a transit line underground lower than they were the last time a similar system was considered 15 years ago in Honolulu, Hamayasu said.
The figures released today do not include the option of building a "managed lane" tollway traffic system. Hamayasu said the city is still studying that possibility and expects to have details ready by next month.
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City drawings show before and after images of how a 30-foot- high fixed guideway running along Nimitz Highway would look from O'ahu Market in Chinatown. Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas, Inc. |
