The current drive to add affordable housing stock presents the opportunity — and the challenge — of the decade for Hawaii leaders. That’s especially so for the City and County of Honolulu, with transit-oriented development part of the game plan for its newly launched Skyline rail segment.

Advocates and public agencies that are focused on affordable housing, long identified as a top public need, have a running start on achieving significant gains. Various major developments are in the works for the long term, fueled in part by an infusion of federal funds already available.

While the financial resources are key, the challenge is that government tends to fumble deploying money efficiently. Delivering on the promises is how the entire effort by the county and state administrations will be judged.

As for the opportunity: Starting with state government, pandemic relief funds enabled Hawaii and other states to accrue large budget surpluses, putting the 2023 Legislature in position to make major investments in housing and other capital improvements.

At the top of the list was the $600 million set aside for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands program to cut its homesteading waiting list way back. Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the DHHL trust are a special constituency but they still represent a sizable sector of the population in great need of housing.

But there were many other initiatives that moved successfully through the state Capitol. One bill created a 99-year leasehold program for the Hawaii Community Development Authority to produce low-cost homes on land owned by the state and county, yielding a projected 10,000 units.

Additionally, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority took center stage last week with Gov. Josh Green, unveiling a plan to renovate existing units and build new ones, working through its contracted developer, Ka Lei Momi Redevelopment Project. A projected 10,880 new affordable units would be built, with the renovation of 1,187 more.

This underscores the need for a solid maintenance plan, even incentivizing assists from renters to help keep up the properties. New units are attractive additions to the state inventory but they can quickly be lost to public use unless upkeep is part of the plan.

Each county has its own raft of affordable housing projects on its agenda, but owing to its population density and especially the Skyline fixed-rail system, Oahu rightly commands particular attention.

This month, the long-awaited and much-criticized rail project had a marquee event when the first 10-mile segment opened connecting Halawa with East Kapolei.

Setting aside all the work to be done to incorporate this isolated segment with the existing bus transit network, it is already creating interest around transit-oriented development that would include affordable housing.

Already construction is underway for a 302-unit rental project, the 25-story Halawa View II, located near the current eastern terminus of the rail at Aloha Stadium. These homes, geared for households earning 60% of the area median income or less, are sorely needed.

Housing development, along with better accommodations for pedestrians and cyclists, is also being anticipated at various rail points, including the Waipahu area, where Kamehameha Schools will be a major player. Its proposal is for 500 affordable and senior housing units in three towers.

And when the line finally extends through the Dillingham corridor, it will spur another Kamehameha Schools redevelopment around the stop bordering the Kapalama canal.

In all these places, a change in building heights for the new apartments is expected to raise community concerns. The city, and the builders, will need to be responsive to these points. The added density is needed to make a dent in Oahu’s deep deficit in affordable housing, but it can be done attractively, incorporating open space.

Hawaii’s housing crisis has drawn the gaze of federal officials, with a visit last week by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge.

The dearth of affordable homes in many urban areas across the country has driven more families into homelessness and HUD now has launched a $3.1 billion program of competitive grants to address these needs.

Of course, the state must seize this opportunity to add housing capacity for those on the lowest income rungs.

The Green administration has issued an emergency proclamation on the housing crisis, a move aimed to create ways of cutting government red tape slowing affordable housing.

More details on this approach are needed. The impulse to keep the momentum going is a good one, as long as the public is kept in the loop as projects come up and move forward.

Hawaii does have a rare opening for making progress in an area where it has lagged for far too long. These resources won’t be available at this scale for a long time, if ever, so this is not a chance the state and city can afford to waste.