There are still a couple of lawsuits against the Honolulu Rail Project that are still ongoing that could potentially stop construction. At the U.S. District Court level, Federal Judge A. Wallace Tashima is listening to testimony from opponents of the Rail Project who are arguing that city officials did not follow procedure when deciding that the Ala Moana Center should be the final eastern station for the rail line. According to Honolulutraffic.com, an anti-rail coalition, the original intended route was supposed to take the rail from Kapolei to the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus. Honolulutraffic.com further believes that rail officials were not impartial in their decisions to place the rail route along its current path and did not properly investigate alternative routes.
Rail officials have stated that the route to the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus would have cost an additional $960 million as opposed to going to Ala Moana Center. Honolulutraffic.com attorney Nicholas Yost stated that this argument by rail officials is a fallacy as the purpose of the rail project was to end at UH Manoa. He suggested comparing the $960 million amount in question to how much it would cost to extend the the rail system from Ala Moana Center to UH Manoa.
There is currently an injunction by Judge Tashima that stop rail officials from property acquisition and most construction in the heart of Honolulu. Judge Tashima stated that he will consider both arguments and will make his final decision shortly.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 2-7-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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