Editorial: Rail project faces difficult transition

Definitely not for the first time and almost certainly not for the last, Honolulu’s elevated rail project has reached a difficult transition point: the threshold of the most challenging City Center segment, through downtown to Ala Moana.

Andrew Robbins, executive director and CEO of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, is conveying a message that the bumpy course can be managed while keeping the $9.2 billion project on track.

That is undoubtedly what nervous taxpayers want to hear. They also need to see some positive developments — smoother progress toward a late-2020 partial opening date — to maintain confidence in the way forward.

A lot has happened in the past week, giving pause and perhaps a bit of encouragement. Some bullet points:

>> Last Friday Robbins delivered what’s expected to be the final recovery plan to the overseeing Federal Transit Administration in San Francisco. This assembles a new financial blueprint needed for the project, whose pricetag has rocketed up to almost double earlier projections. At issue is the release of the remaining $744 million in federal subsidy.

>> Robbins flew there after a presentation to the HART board that likely had some in the room, as well as in the general public, biting their nails. Cracks were discovered in prefabricated steel canopy support “arms” to be used at West Oahu stations. Robbins said the repairs, which will be handled by contractor Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. at its own cost, can be done while the project moves along.

>> All of this is happening on the brink of learning what costs to expect for the City Center phase of the project, once the bids submitted in a public-private partnership process are revealed.

The fervent hope is that Robbins does keep a steady hand on the reins; he is going to need it, given the intricate nature of this work and the delicate balance required to stick to the timeframe. There are still unknown factors looming along the way; having witnessed many twists and delays, and rising cost tallies, the public is understandably rattled.

As for Kiewit: Its lapse in missing repairs to the cracks up until this point is really distressing. Yes, “shrinkage” cracks do develop in concrete structures, but they should have been sealed properly to prevent rain from leaking into the hollow interior, which has happened.

Company officials have said Kiewit will make those repairs at no cost to the city; however, should any further costs or delays arise directly linked to its error and correction, the contractor should be on the hook for those as well.

This is what is so precarious about significant errors; it’s difficult to insulate such a complex project from their effects.

On a more positive note: Mayor Kirk Caldwell this week was flashing signs of optimism after meeting on Tuesday with FTA officials in Washington, D.C. The indications were positive enough to give hope that the recovery plan is acceptable, Caldwell said, assuming that the City Center proposals come in within affordability limits.

While Honolulu holds its collective breath on that, there are other benchmarks to hit. Here’s a big one: The FTA expects the financial package to include $25 million in city funds in the coming year, from a bond issuance that still needs City Council approval by a supermajority of six votes. Two of the Council’s nine members are “no” votes; one is undecided. That’s a thin margin.

Once that financial hurdle is cleared, as is hoped, it may be time to exhale, if only for a moment. The rail project, offering a marked improvement to Oahu’s strained transit options, is still worth pursuing. But this has been one long, hard road.