Under President Barack Obama’s budget proposal released Wednesday, Honolulu’s future elevated rail system would get its full federal funding for 2014 — a move that local proponents say shows the project is in good health.
Nonetheless, there’s still "nail-biting," as the rail project’s top executive put it, over whether the project will first get its full share of federal dollars for 2013.
The president’s latest proposal requests that $250 million go to Honolulu rail in 2014, part of a six-year, $1.55 billion spending agreement between the Federal Transit Administration and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, which oversees completion of the 20-mile line from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center.
"There’s a strong commitment to this project from Washington at literally the highest levels," HART CEO Dan Grabauskas said Wednesday.
"This is great news for Oahu’s rail project," U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz added in a statement.
Schatz, who was appointed in December to replace the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, sits on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. He said he would work with the FTA and the Senate Appropriations Committee to make sure the $250 million proposed by the Obama administration for 2014 is approved.
However, with the recent, deep budget cuts known as sequestration, Grabauskas said there’s a good chance the rail project won’t get the full $250 million that FTA originally agreed upon for 2013. Any federal dollars withheld in 2013 would be made up in later years, officials say.
"We expect that we will take a financial hit" on federal funding this year because construction was halted last year, Grabauskas said Wednesday.
Opponents of the rail project successfully argued before the Hawaii Supreme Court last year that the city needed to finish its archaeological survey along the entire Honolulu route before building could start. That survey wrapped earlier this year, and, if the project clears several more legal hurdles, HART expects construction to resume this fall.
Grabauskas has said HART could weather a 5 percent cut in 2013 and still stay on schedule and budget.
On Wednesday, he said HART could get word in the next few days from FTA on how much money the agency will provide the Honolulu rail project this year.
