According to a recent poll conducted by the Ward Research Inc., only 44 percent of Oahu residents believe that the $5.26 billion Honolulu Rail Project should continue. A total 50 percent of those surveyed feel that the project would be ended right now and there was 5 to 6 percent who either declined to answer or were undecided. This makes for a very interesting Honolulu Mayor race, where the main focus of debate has been the Honolulu Rail Project. Current Mayor Peter Carlisle and form city Managing Director Kirk Caldwell are both strong supporters of the rail project. However, former governor Ben Cayetano has publically stated that if he is elected as Mayor, he would do everything in his power to stop rail.
Executive Director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, Daniel Grabauskas, stated, “It’s up to the voters whether they believe that fundamentally we’ve been doing the right thing. The bottom line and what I think is most important is that traffic is only getting worse, and we have already started building the system.” The city has already spent over $500 million on the Rail Project and has awarded another $2 billion in contracts to build the rail cars and construct the first 10 miles of elevated guideways.
A total of 84 percent of everyone surveyed, including both supporters and opponents of the rail project, agreed strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement, “The rail project will end up costing a lot more than is currently estimated.”
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 7-30-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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