Editorial: Seize opportunity on infrastructure

At long last, a divided Congress came together long enough to pass a crucial $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that should float many states’ boats — or more accurately, fix their deteriorating highways and byways.

Hawaii cannot afford to lag behind on tapping into this largess. It should be rolling up its sleeves this very day to work on advancing public-works projects, even as President Joe Biden was set to sign that historic bill into law today.

Hawaii is poised to receive at least $2.8 billion to improve roads, bridges and expand high-speed internet access — all areas that have been recognized in recent years to be deficient here, and in need of much attention and funding. The new federal funds over the next five years also will support airports, buses, clean energy and water infrastructure — plus create new jobs aligned with such projects. Among Hawaii’s highlights:

>> At least $1.5 billion for roads, bridges and major projects. An estimated $1.2 billion will go to repairing and rebuilding roads with a focus on climate change mitigation, resilience and safety; and at least $339 million to help repair and replace deficient or outdated bridges. The need is great: it’s estimated that in Hawaii, some 84 bridges and over 664 miles of highway are in poor condition.

>> About $637.4 million for public transit. This entails repair and expansion of public transit systems, plus a historic investment in environmentally cleaner and safer buses.

>> About $246 million for airports. Our tourism state, so dependent on air travel, can’t squander this opportunity to improve runways, gates and terminals, and invest in low-carbon technologies. Hawaii also could tap into a nationwide, $5 billion Airport Terminal Program fund for major terminal projects.

>> About $160 million for broadband. At least $100 million should help expand broadband access to more families, with another $60 million for the Department of Hawaiian Homelands to provide high-speed internet access to more Native Hawaiians. As shown by the pandemic, socioeconomic inequities and rural difficulties hinder distance-learning and other remote- access capabilities.

>> At least $200.4 million for water infrastructure. Municipal wastewater facilities and treatment systems will receive $112.4 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund; and another $88 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund must be used efficiently to improve drinking water treatment, pipes and water storage tanks.

>> About $18 million for electric vehicles. Hawaii’s vision for “greener” transportation gets a needed boost, with more EV charging infrastructure to be funded.

In addition, other huge pots of money will be available that dovetail with Hawaii’s goals, such as for resiliency, street safety and flood mitigation. The devil certainly will be in the details, as Hawaii will need to vie vigorously against other comers to tap into the pots.

These include $11 billion nationwide for resiliency — $8.7 billion of which is in the new Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) program, which provides competitive grants for resilience improvement and at-risk coastal infrastructure. For Hawaii, already seeing the impacts of coastal erosion on highways and structures, this program could be a key source for mitigating inevitable sea level rise.

Also, a $7 billion nationwide fund could be tapped for flood mitigation, for projects that protect vulnerable communities from sea level rise and extreme weather. One prime candidate would seem to be the Ala Wai Flood Risk Management Project, recently reset to Square One after an earlier proposal to protect Waikiki from a 100-year flood ran into opposition from upstream neighborhoods. Hopefully, better community engagement in renewed planning will bring a smarter project to fruition.

Today’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill is a solid “Build Back Better” investment in America’s future. With so much new potential to address our worsening structural problems, Hawaii needs to get into gear to make the most of the funding byways.