Federal officials are in Honolulu to help decide whether they will give a standard recertification to a somewhat obscure local transportation planning agency — and if they don’t, the move could cost traffic-plagued Oahu up to $15 million in annual federal highway dollars, local officials have warned.
The visit from Federal Highway Administration personnel this week comes amid frayed relations between the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization and the state Department of Transportation. The two have clashed in recent months over OMPO’s budget and funding as well as the role it should play in long-term transportation planning on a small island that’s only getting more crowded and congested.
Federal officials routinely review various planning organizations nationwide for recertification.
During a public-comment meeting at the state Capitol on Thursday, Oahu residents vented long-standing frustrations with DOT, describing the agency as unresponsive to public feedback on various transportation issues and projects.
"State DOT has been a nonplayer in this process. They undermine the process and it’s been very unfortunate," Al Frenzel, a member of OMPO’s Citizen Advisory Committee, told the federal delegation Thursday of DOT’s involvement with OMPO. The group’s members include elected officials and transportation agency heads.
Frenzel said he would rather OMPO lose its certification because "the state needs … a wake-up call. If this process certifies that everything is going great in Hawaii, then nothing is going to improve."
Waianae resident Rodlyn Brown said she and others on the Leeward Coast want to ensure that realigning Farrington Highway mauka of Makaha Beach Park by 2035 remains a transportation priority. However, Brown said, DOT hasn’t responded to their concerns, and they fear the realignment might be undermined by an agency plan to build two new bridges at the site.
DOT officials did not speak at the meeting. Agency representatives did not respond to requests for comments Thursday afternoon after the spate of negative comments. Last month the DOT’s former director, Glenn Okimoto, left the post to return to the University of Hawaii, where he now serves as administrative affairs program officer. Former Airports Deputy Director Ford Fuchigami is interim DOT director.
DOT has previously said it aims to reclaim unspent millions in "excess" reserve dollars from OMPO. OMPO Executive Director Brian Gibson said his organization’s funding, which is largely controlled by DOT, remains unclear — making it difficult to plan long-term.
Currently, rail construction is taking off, and state and city officials are catching up on years’ worth of overdue road and highway repairs all across Oahu. In recent weeks, crippling traffic due to simultaneous lane closures on the H-1 freeway and Kamehameha Highway have shown that the agencies need better coordination.
OMPO, Gibson said, would be ideal to help better coordinate all that construction so traffic moves more smoothly.
"We’re essentially the United Nations of local governments," he said.
Nonetheless, with its funding unresolved, OMPO simply wouldn’t be able to serve in that role, Gibson added.
Honolulu transit officials still hope to hire a traffic consultant and are seeking funding for that aim in the coming fiscal year, said Jesse Broder Van Dyke, spokesman for Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
Oahu residents can provide written comments on the OMPO recertification until July 3 by emailing elizabeth.fischer@dot.gov.
Federal transportation officials say they’ll have a preliminary report out on the recertification, featuring "action items" for various agencies and due dates to complete them, later this summer.
