Stop rail to save Oahu’s natural beauty

The Outdoor Circle’s mission since 1912 has been to keep Hawaii clean, green and beautiful.

Our Islands are free of billboards and our trees are preserved, due in large measure to the dedication and hard work of our members who are committed to protecting and enhancing one of the most exceptional places on Earth.

In its 100-year history, The Outdoor Circle (TOC) has seen no other venture that holds the potential to degrade the landscape of Oahu as the proposed Honolulu rail transit project. For more than five years, at every opportunity, TOC has pressed the city to explain how it will mitigate transit’s visual damage as well as the degradation to neighborhoods and communities along its route.

TOC is not anti-transit and would support a proposal that will reduce traffic and protect Hawaii’s greatest asset, the unique and incomparable beauty of our islands. But TOC has concluded that it cannot and does not support the project as proposed, and we now are exploring all options to determine the most feasible and effective actions we might take to stop it.

Of great concern is the visual damage caused by transit. The city acknowledges that the damage will occur, but claims that the blight is the price we all must pay for progress. Imagine the cumulative visual impact of more than 20 miles of a massive elevated concrete guideway, supported by 720 large concrete columns with the inevitable graffiti and enormous transit stations. The project is destined to become an ugly scar across one of the most beautiful places on Earth while there is little evidence that it will bring relief to Oahu’s unacceptable traffic.

We also are distressed that the proposed project requires the removal of more than 900 trees. The Federal Transit Administration requires that the city consult with TOC on this issue. We ensure that relocated trees are handled properly and that contractors pay for those that are not. Hundreds of trees already have been, or will soon be, removed and destroyed. But given that the federal government has not guaranteed that it will fund the project, we strongly question whether the tree removals and other preparatory work should continue.

A group of individuals and grassroots organizations has filed a lawsuit to stop this project. TOC supports it because the city’s final environmental impact statement (FEIS) failed to conform to the National Environmental Policy Act. Neither did it adequately evaluate less intrusive alternatives such as a flexible bus system, staggered work hours, creative transportation options for thousands of students, a private jitney service or possibly an at-grade rail system. It also failed to explain how the city will mitigate the damage the project will inflict on Oahu’s mauka-makai view planes.

Our position is that these details should have been explained before the acceptance of the FEIS. And why didn’t that happen? We believe it’s because no level of mitigation will erase the physical and visual barricade which will ruin our priceless ocean and mountain views.

TOC now is considering how we might best support the coalition that is challenging this project in court. We also encourage others to support the lawsuit. We are hopeful that, through our combined efforts, we can convince the courts to put the brakes on the current transit project and force the city to offer real alternatives and real mitigation to help relieve Honolulu’s traffic madness without pillaging the beauty of the place we call home.