The City Council yesterday approved the locations of 34 transit stations along the planned 26-mile commuter rail route stretching from West Kapolei to the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and Waikiki.

As part of the decision, the council agreed to put a train stop within a five-minute walk of the future UH-West O'ahu campus. Prior plans called for that station to be about a quarter-mile away in the new Ho'opili residential and commercial development.

The council also approved stations along a route running through the Salt Lake neighborhood and an alternative route, which may be built in a later phase, that runs next to the Ho-nolulu International Airport.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann hopes to begin construction on the $3.7 billion elevated commuter train late next year.

The change in the location of the UH-West O'ahu station means users will only have to walk about 300 feet to get to campus. That's about 1,000 feet less than the prior plan. The change followed an agreement announced yesterday allowing the city to place a transit station and park-and-ride facility on state land.

"I think we've reached a consensus with everyone in the area," Gene Awakuni, chancellor of UH-West O'ahu, told council members yesterday. "We think it's in an ideal location."

Under current plans, UH and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources will enter into a joint agreement allowing the university to develop housing and commercial projects on a 105-acre state parcel fronting Farrington Highway and North-South Road. The UH-West O'ahu station would be on the diamondhead side of North-South Road. A pedestrian bridge will allow students to more easily cross North-South Road en route to campus.

"It has always been my goal to have a rail station located on, or adjacent to, the new campus, and I'm confident this station will serve the campus very well," Hannemann said in written statement yesterday.

Yesterday's council decision allows the city to proceed with preliminary engineering and the preparation of a draft environmental impact statement, said council member Todd Apo. The exact locations of the stations could vary slightly depending on how those processes develop.

"Based on the information that comes from those two processes, you may end up moving them some," Apo said.

The station locations were approved on a 7-2 vote by the council, with Barbara Marshall and Charles K. Djou opposed.

RAIL OPTIONS STILL OPEN

In other business yesterday, the council advanced bills that would allow the use of rubber-tire and magnetic levitation technology in the proposed mass-transit system. Those bills face an uphill battle in garnering the council votes needed to pass or override a likely Hannemann veto.

The council has been debating for months whether the transit system should use steel wheels, rubber tires or magnetically levitated vehicles. Council members deadlocked last month in several votes on the technology issue. Hannemann favors steel and has said he will veto any bill that advances another technology.

"We've had extensive discussion of the different technologies already," said council member Gary Okino, who voted against both bills yesterday. "I don't think we need to go spend another eight-hour committee session to go over the same things."

HEARING MAY 15

Marshall disagreed. "I think it's worth any amount of time we can devote to it because it's the largest public works project that we've ever done," said the council chairwoman.

Marshall missed the transit technology votes last month. She said yesterday she was in Florida following the death of her mother.

The new transit technology bills, introduced by council members Donovan Dela Cruz and Ann Kobayashi, now go to the council's Committee on Transportation and Public Works.

Council member Nestor Garcia, who chairs that committee, said he'll hold a May 15 hearing on non-steel-rail technologies.

"We'll have a hearing on technology other than steel on steel," he said. However, "Unless I hear some new evidence that tells me we should choose something other than steel on steel (technology), I'm going to recommend these bills don't pass out of committee."