Honolulu city and rail leaders are in Washington, D.C., this week to discuss the latest on the island’s 20-mile transit project with lawmakers and transportation officials.
Support among the key players there for Oahu’s future rail line, the local leaders said in a conference call Wednesday, appears stronger than ever now that the state and federal lawsuits challenging the project have been resolved. Ultimately, the $5.26 billion elevated rail line will rely on federal dollars to cover roughly a third of its capital costs.
Previously, "there was some skepticism" regarding the rail project among decision-makers at the U.S. Department of Transportation and in the halls of Congress when the outcomes of those lawsuits were still uncertain, Honolulu City Council Chairman Ernie Martin said.
However, the Honolulu delegation this week encountered "nothing but very positive and enthusiastic support" with those lawsuits behind them, Mayor Kirk Caldwell said.
The project has secured about $860 million in federal funds to help build rail to date, and officials in Washington indicated the project should not see any roadblocks in locking in its next batch of $250 million in the coming year, rail officials said Wednesday.
A funding agreement with federal transportation officials calls for $1.55 billion total to help fund the Oahu rail transit line.
Caldwell and Martin were joined on the Beltway trip by Ivan Lui Kwan, chairman of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board, which is responsible for overseeing the project, and HART Executive Director Dan Grabauskas.
The local leaders met with several top U.S. DOT officials, as well as the heads of several transportation committees in the U.S. House, according to the mayor’s office. They also checked in with Hawaii’s two U.S. senators, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, both Democrats. They also met with staff members of Reps. Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard.
About 72 columns and 178 column foundations have been built for the project so far, all west of town, officials report.
Even as they focus on securing the dollars needed to finish the project, plans for how to eventually fund rail’s operation and maintenance remain vague. Rail officials, including Caldwell and Kwan, have publicly expressed support for lifting the 2022 sunset on Oahu’s GET surcharge to fund those costs, saying that would shift much of the burden from local taxpayers to island visitors.
On Wednesday, Caldwell said a lot of discussion must still take place before any final decisions on operational funding are made.
He is slated to return to Hawaii on Friday. The estimated costs for his visit, combined with Kwan’s and Grabauskas’, totaled $9,225, according to HART officials. Airfare costs for Martin’s trip totaled $1,383, and the remainder of his expenses, including lodging, would be available upon his return, officials with his office said.
