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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Roadwork in Oahu's Salt Lake on hold for transit line

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Central Oahu Writer

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The city's plans to begin the long-awaited final phase of its Salt Lake Boulevard project are on hold while officials work on the design of the planned mass-transit alignment.

The city has deferred funding for the widening and improvement of the one-mile stretch of Salt Lake Boulevard from Maluna to Ala Liliko'i streets, saying officials first need to firm up details of the mass-transit fixed guideway, which is currently routed through the boulevard. Officials said it makes no sense to spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on road improvements that could later be undone to accommodate the transit project.

The city had planned to begin design work on the project in 2009, with construction to begin in 2011, according to City Council member Romy Cachola. Now the start date is unclear.

"It is very disappointing because this project has been delayed for decades," said Grant Tanimoto, former chairman of the Aliamanu/Salt Lake/Foster Village Neighborhood Board. "On the other hand, these guys are the professionals. You kind of understand what they're saying to a certain extent."

City Design and Construction Department Director Eugene Lee said the city is still committed to the Salt Lake Boulevard widening project but that the transit plans "threw a wrinkle into it." He said officials want to perhaps incorporate the widening improvements with the transit project. The original timeline for the project may still stand, although delays are possible, he said.

"Rather than trying to do all this work and to have transit come in and maybe undo it, the city made the decision that it would be more prudent to address the two projects concurrently rather than separately," Lee said. "We have a design contract for the project, but there's no sense in proceeding until we know exactly what the transit project is going to do."

The City Council this month approved an amended Transportation Improvement Program list — which identifies projects eligible for federal funding — covering 2008 to 2011 that does not include the Salt Lake Boulevard widening project. The O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization's policy committee last week approved the list, which Gov. Linda Lingle is expected to sign off on.

Tanimoto said he fears the "worst-case scenario" of the Salt Lake Boulevard path being eliminated from the transit system.

"Then there's no mass transit and the road doesn't get widened," he said.

A key environmental study for the planned mass-transit system will evaluate a direct route to Honolulu International Airport as well as the controversial Salt Lake Boulevard path chosen by the City Council, an indication that the route could later be changed. However, officials have said there is no plan to change the route.

The city's efforts to widen Salt Lake Boulevard began in the late 1970s, and officials had initially planned to complete the project in 1983, said Cachola, who cast the lone vote against the amended Transportation Improvement Program list this month.

Various sections of Salt Lake Boulevard were completed in the 1980s and '90s, according to Cachola's office. The most recent phase of the Salt Lake Boulevard widening effort, from Bougainville Drive to Maluna Street, was completed in August 2005 after three years of construction.

The completed areas of Salt Lake Boulevard have at least four lanes with buried utility lines and sidewalks. Some areas also have landscaped medians and bike lanes.

The unimproved middle section of Salt Lake Boulevard, between Maluna to Ala Liliko'i streets, has just two lanes and some left-turn lanes. Tanimoto said traffic tends to bottleneck in that area, which he called a traffic hazard.

The cost of the project has been a factor in some of the delays, as various projects islandwide are also competing for limited federal dollars. Cachola said officials said about three years ago that widening and improvements along the one-mile stretch of Salt Lake Boulevard, including burying overhead utility lines, would cost about $65 million. That's since gone up by about $10 million, he said.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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