Kapolei— The ceremonial groundbreaking of
Honolulu’s $5.5 billion elevated rail system has done little to calm the debate among those who believe the project is a vital part of
Oahu’s future and those who believe it may eventually bankrupt the city.
Friends of Makakilo President and community activist Kioni Dudley sees the mass transit project as an out-of-place eyesore that will pave over thousands of acres of precious farmland in Kapolei.
“It's criminal because we're gonna need that land for the future,” said Dudley. “We're gonna have times when we're gonna have great calamities on the mainland and they can't get us food.”
Dudley also questions why the 20 mile long project from East Kapolei to Ala Moana begins along the barren corridor of North-South Road.
The first transit station with a 900 stall park-n-ride will be built next to the new Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Community Center, a full three miles from Kapolei’s business hub along Kamokila Boulevard..
“If we're really intent about doing something with traffic, getting traffic off the freeway, we've got to build up the business center in downtown Kapolei,” said Dudley. “Why are we starting out in the middle of nowhere?”
However mass transit supporters say it's the vision for the rail line that truly matters. Maeda Timson, president of Go Rail Go, says the project has never been about the near term.
“It's not anything for this year or the next,” asserts Timson. “If you don't have a vision and you do anything to stop rail it's a disservice to our future.”
In the coming years the North-South corridor is expected to feature the University of Hawaii West Oahu Campus, the aforementioned Kroc Center and D.R. Horton’s Hoopili project, which would add nearly 12,000 homes to the area.
However in 2009 the state Land Use Commission put Hoopili on hold after D.R. Horton failed to submit a proper incremental development plan, a technicality first raised by Dudley.
Before construction of Hoopili can begin the developer must win approval from the LUC to convert 1,600 acres of ag land into urban use.
Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the city's Rapid Transit Division, told Khon2 the Hoopili transit station would remain on hold until the LUC gives final approval for the D.R. Horton project to proceed.
FINANCING REMAINS UNCERTAIN
City officials are still hoping to receive $1.55 billion from the federal government to fund 29 percent of the cost of building the elevated rail line. President Barack Obama even included a $250,000 million down payment in his 2012 budget.
Mayor Peter Carlisle said this month the city would submit a new financial plan to the Federal Transit Administration in the spring that addresses the agency’s concern about the use of $300 million in federal bust subsidies to help finance the rail system.
Yet to be determined is how much money Congress is willing to set aside for the $5.5 billion system. Dudley believes republicans who control the U.S. House will not deliver the amount of money the city is expecting.
“We need the city to realize that that problem is there and stop charging ahead,” he said. “It's just insane that they're moving ahead with our money if we're not gonna get the federal money.”
To drive home their objections to the rail project Dudley and other critics plan to peacefully picket the city’s groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning. He said several dozen protestors are expected to show up along North-South Road.
Have a news tip? Contact Andrew Pereira at 368-7273. Follow Andrew on Twitter at Khon_Reporter
