Honolulu Rail Project May Resume Shortly

The Honolulu Authority or Rapid Transportation (HART) has received some excellent news from the Honolulu City Council's Zoning and Planning Committee and the Intergovernmental Relations and Human Services Committee to proceed once again with with the construction of the $5.26 billion rail project.  The Honolulu City Council is still required to give final approval for to allow work to commence, but HART is optimistic that this would occur within the next week.

According to the Executive Director for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, Daniel Grabauskas, the city loses approximately $200,000 each day that project construction is halted.  The project was placed on hold on August 27, 2012 when the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the project needed to complete certain procedural steps, including creating an archaeological survey of the entire route, before they could continue.  The State Historic Preservation Division gave their approval of HART's archaeological reports on August 30, 2013.  Grabauskas estimates that this delay has cost the city somewhere between $30 million and $35 million, not including the $3 million or so in attorney fees.

Opponents of the rail project point out that there is still a major lawsuit against the project which is currently being presented to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  These opponents caution the City Council that they should wait until after a final verdict has been made before granting or denying the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation to resume work.

Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 9-10-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
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