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KGMB9 Evening Team
Rail Route Changeup; Back to Original Plan Print E-mail
Written by Tim Sakahara - tsakahara@kgmb9.com   
November 06, 2008 06:17 PM

 

Whether you call it a deceptive flip-flop or a brilliant political maneuver the rail route is on track to change.

Just two days after the public voted in favor of rail the city council is now looking at switching the route from going through Salt Lake to stopping at Pearl Harbor and the airport.

According to the study just released the airport route is expected to cost about $4.1 billion to build, that's $200 million more than the Salt Lake route.

And it will cost about $5 million more to operate every year. But the some think the worth is in the ridership. The city estimates about 8,000 more riders a day would get on board the airport route by the year 2030.

The added cost is only one of the issues the city council will consider. The change could also cause delays and a political backlash from one of the council members.

Council members Charles Djou and Todd Apo have been on opposite sides of the rail since the start, but after the public voted in favor of transit Djou is switching sides.

Now together they want to switch the rail route back to the original plan which goes to the airport.

"I believe the city shouldn't have done rail in the first place but if we are going to do rail it doesn't make any sense to go down salt lake boulevard," said Honolulu Councilmember Charles Djou, who represents Hawaii Kai, Waikiki and East Oahu.

"There are rationales for going through Salt Lake but when you compare it with the two options the airport/Pearl Harbor option is the better of the two," said Councilmember Todd Apo, who represents Kapolei, Ewa and Leeward Oahu.

Here's the problem. Romy Cachola was the swing vote on the council. Without him the transit never would have made it this far. So to get his vote it was agreed that the route would go through his district down Salt Lake Boulevard. But with Djou and possibly others coming on board his vote is not as crucial, which opens the opportunity to build the airport route first ahead of Salt Lake.

"People went there to vote in support of the rail issue on the ballot only to find out 2 days after the election that we are going to switch from salt lake to the airport. 18: 07 we are playing with fire." 18:09 we should not do that the integrity of the council is compromised," said Councilmember Romy Cachola, who represents Salt Lake, Iwilei, Pearl Harbor and the airport.

Cachola says the mayor also made a deal with Salt Lake neighborhood leaders and says if you make a commitment you have to follow through.

"We did not initiate this. I live by my word. That’s where we are so he can't be crying to the administration he has to take his tears to the city council and talk with them," said Mufi Hannemann, Honolulu Mayor, in a press conference in his office.

"I'm not crying to the mayor, he made the commitment and the people that voted with me on the Salt Lake alignment are people close to him," said Councilmember Cachola, in his own press conference.

"Like I said tell him to save the drama for his mama go down stairs and talk with the city council guys," said Hannemann.

"You deceive the people by letting them understand that the alignment will go to Salt Lake Boulevard," said Cachola.

To be continued. The council takes up the issue for the first time next Wednesday. At least five council members say they are leaning towards the airport route which would be enough to pass.



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Last Updated ( November 12, 2008 07:30 PM )
 

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