LOS ANGELES — The Federal Transit Administration approved the Honolulu mayor's request for an extension to submit a recovery plan for an under-construction $8.3 billion rail project.
The FTA is providing $1.55 billion in federal funds for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation project, which has experienced cost overruns.
The city received a response from Federal Transit Administration Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers Friday to Mayor Kirk Caldwell's June 24 request for an extension for HART and the city to submit a recovery plan.
"I am extremely grateful to the FTA for understanding our need for more time to develop a financial plan to complete the project to Ala Moana and moving the due date from August 7 to the end of this year," Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said in a statement.
"We look forward to working with the FTA next month on developing intermediate milestones and deliverables for an interim plan," Caldwell said. "At the same time we will be putting together our recovery plan due in December that addresses their concerns regarding costs, impacts to ridership, and functionality."
Caldwell said in a June 16 statement that he remains committed to building rail the full 20 miles from East Kapolei to the Ala Moana Shopping Center. There had been some discussion about shortening the route as the cost of the project has soared from original projections of $5.2 billion in 2010 to current projections of $8.3 billion.
The FTA requested a recovery plan from HART by August 7 that addresses the discrepancy between "the current cost projection for the full system at $8.3 billion, and the current revenue from the combined .05% general excise tax surcharge and the FTA's $1.5 billion of $6.8 billion," Caldwell said.
The mayor proposed to HART that the project be phased by completing work to the Middle Street station, which is a central location and multi-modal hub to transfer to other transportation options, using the existing $6.8 billion in funding.
He then proposed that HART continue aggressive cost-cutting measures and secure additional funding to complete the last five miles to Ala Moana. Other funding options include federal funding, state funding and private partnerships.
Caldwell has opposed raising real property taxes. The legislature already approved a GET extension earlier this year to match long-term bond funding. And if more local funding is needed, Caldwell said he would support another GET extension.
"I am totally committed to getting to Ala Moana and ultimately to UH Manoa; that is ideally where rail should be going and how we will get optimal ridership," Caldwell said. "I wish we could continue all the way to Ala Moana now, but that is a challenge that cannot be addressed until additional funding becomes available."
"Further extensions will happen at the appropriate time, based on our financial resources," Caldwell said in his June statement. "The fiscally responsible thing to do is to continue building rail in this current phase, while working on the most cost-effective way to accomplish the last phase. I'm committed to finishing rail. The people on the West side of Oahu suffer traffic gridlock and their quality of life is negatively impacted every single day."
