DEPARTMENT/speak out, August 2010

City Hits Historic Rail Milestone

By Kirk Caldwell, managing director, City & County of Honolulu

Aloha!
This has been a historic summer for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project with the release of the rail transit final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). We are significantly closer to making this shovel-ready project a reality for our island.

This has truly been a community-wide collaboration. So many people got on board: the members of the Legislature who granted us the local funding mechanism and have continually supported rail; our congressional delegation, who delivered consistent support and appropriated federal funding; a City Council who provided input and leadership every step of the way; the building industry; labor and business organizations; the Obama administration, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and other federal partners that have helped us and pledged funding; and voters on Oahu who said yes to rail in 2008.

The recently-released final EIS identifies environmental, community and economic benefits and impacts of the elevated rail system and proposed solutions. It is the result of five years of meticulous technical research, public input and in-depth consultations with stakeholders.
Now we look forward to the next steps in the process: acceptance of the final EIS by the governor and a Record of Decision from the FTA. With support and cooperation from the state and federal government, we will break ground for this long overdue project.
Once construction starts, our communities will begin realizing tremendous benefits:

Job creation — There is no better or timelier economic stimulus project on the horizon than rail. Building rail will employ 10,000 people a year on average, according to the final EIS. Thousands of those jobs will be in the local construction industry.
The state Legislature’s construction industry task force earlier this year said rail could re-energize the building industry and stimulate our economy. “No other project on the horizon has the same potential for generating jobs, assisting local business, and contributing to Hawaii’s local economy,” the task force’s report stated.

Traffic relief — Rail will reduce future traffic delay by 18 percent in 2030, according to the final EIS. This will improve mobility and make commuting easier between West Oahu and town. Fast, convenient and affordable train service is expected to attract about 116,000 riders each work day in the future. For example, a trip on an elevated train from the East Kapolei station to Ala Moana Center will take only 42 minutes, regardless of traffic conditions on the roads below. Passengers also will save money on gas, wear and tear on their vehicle and parking costs.

Transit-oriented development —
While transit is important, even more important to improving our quality of life is smart development around the stations. With rail, we have an immense opportunity to reshape our communities for the better. There will be more opportunities for new businesses and housing, including affordable housing. We can have more parks and open space while creating wonderful community meeting places.

Quality of life — All of rail’s benefits ultimately mean a better quality of life for island families. Rail will give residents more economic opportunity. Rail will afford working men and women another convenient and affordable means of transportation. Rail will open new career paths to our young people in fields like transit engineering, rail station architecture, and train repair and maintenance.
Most importantly, rail will help shape not only our future but the generations to come. Rail will be our legacy to our children and grandchildren in providing a transportation solution to help them deal with continued growth on our island.
As U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye said, “We have debated and studied this project to an excessive extent over the last 20 years and now is the time to move forward.”

Aloha Marketing
CEMCO
CFSEI
City Mill
Clean Sewer Lines Hawaii
Dietrich Metal Framing
distributed energy partners
E.M. Rivera & Sons, Inc.
GW Killebrew
Hawaii Finishing Hawaii
Hawaii Trenchless
Herbert Chock & Associates, Inc.
Home Convenience Center Inc.
Honolulu Wood Treating
HPM Building Supply
Isemoto Contracting Co. Ltd.
Jade Painting, Inc.
JD Painting Hawaii
Kaikor Construction
Lenox Metals, LLC
Macsteel Service
Centers USA
Nova Group Inc.
Osmose, Inc.
Pasha Hawaii
Pittsburgh Paints
Precision Truss
Pural Water Specialty Co. Inc.
RSI Roofing & Building Supply
sageWater
Service Rental & Supplies, Inc.
Simpson Strong-Tie
Steel Truss & Panel, LLC
Sunrise Construction, Inc.
Truss Systems Hawaii
Unifab LLC
West Hawaii Concrete