Honolulu mayor asks FTA for more time to finish elevated rail project

Honolulu’s mayor and the chief executive of the agency in charge of Oahu’s elevated rail project is asking the Federal Transit Administration for more time to complete the system's final leg.

The under-construction driverless rapid transit system has experienced a series of hiccups doubling the cost of the project to nearly $10 billion.

A set of rail cars for the yet-to-operate rapid transit system in Honolulu.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation informed the FTA in Tuesday's letter that the agreement had fallen off with the private partner, but the city and HART are working together to develop a plan for the last leg of the project to Ala Moana Center, a downtown Honolulu shopping mall. They are also seeking out a new private partner.

“It’s vitally important that the city and HART work together to find a path forward, and that work is already underway,” Caldwell said in a statement. “We also need to be realistic and transparent about the challenges that the project faces as we develop a plan to finish the remaining 4.16 miles of the project and the last eight stations including the Pearl Highlands transit station and parking garage.”

The 20-mile rail line through urban parts of Oahu, Hawaii’s most developed island, has hit roadblocks as the city and Honolulu Authority for Rail Transportation work to complete the last leg into downtown Honolulu, the most densely developed section the line will serve.

The concept for the project was first envisioned in the 1980s by long-serving Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye, who died in 2012. The concept for the rail line was seen as a solution to the island’s notorious traffic congestion.

After navigating a series of lawsuits to block the project, design work began on the project in 2011 that was originally expected to cost $5.5 billion. Hawaii officials were able to secure $1.55 billion in funding from the FTA that has been distributed to the state in increments as the project cleared milestones outlined in the agreement with the federal agency. It’s not the first time Honolulu has asked the FTA for more time.

The letter confirms the termination of the procurement of a public private partnership for the completion of the project and outlines the collaboration taking place between city staff and HART. The relationship between the city and HART had soured this year even though Caldwell had been a long-time supporter of the rail project even as it hit bumps along the way.

Term limits mean Caldwell will leave office in January. The mayor-elect is Rick Blangiardi.

“HART is already putting the finishing touches on the documents to solicit qualifications from companies that might be interested in bidding on building the remainder of the rail project,” said HART CEO Andrew Robbins. “We look forward to working with the City on completing the construction of the project and beginning rail passenger service next year.”

The letter also confirms that the city will complete the entire project originally envisioned in the agreement with the FTA. The letter also asks for a further one year extension of the period of availability of the fiscal year 2015 $250 million Capital Investment Grant allocation, “as the City and HART continue to develop a viable plan satisfactory to both the community and the FTA.”

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