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Give OK to rail transit

POSTED: 06:39 a.m. HST, Oct 20, 2008

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HAWAII residents indicated in recent polls that they approve of the city's plan for rail transit between Kapolei and Ala Moana, a goal that has been proposed for the past three decades. Voters should end the continuing debate by approving a ballot item that will end the debate and authorize the city to go ahead with the important project.

The proposed amendment to the City Charter would give the city transportation director the authority to proceed with the "steel-wheel-on-steel-rail transit system." Rejection of the amendment would greatly jeopardize the city's attempt to meet the growing need for an adequate transportation system between downtown Honolulu and the island's Second City.

The amendment's placement on the ballot followed a failed attempt by an anti-rail group to block work on the 20-mile elevated steel-rail system. In response to the opposition, the City Council agreed in August to put the question on the ballot. Mayor Mufi Hannemann hopes to begin construction on the system, beginning in Kapolei, late next year or in early 2010 and complete it by 2018.

Blocking the plan at this point would greatly jeopardize federal funds in the future for any major transit project in Honolulu, where the lineal nature of the island's leeward population is ideal for a single-line transit.

HAWAII residents indicated in recent polls that they approve of the city's plan for rail transit between Kapolei and Ala Moana, a goal that has been proposed for the past three decades. Voters should end the continuing debate by approving a ballot item that will end the debate and authorize the city to go ahead with the important project.


The proposed amendment to the City Charter would give the city transportation director the authority to proceed with the "steel-wheel-on-steel-rail transit system." Rejection of the amendment would greatly jeopardize the city's attempt to meet the growing need for an adequate transportation system between downtown Honolulu and the island's Second City.

The amendment's placement on the ballot followed a failed attempt by an anti-rail group to block work on the 20-mile elevated steel-rail system. In response to the opposition, the City Council agreed in August to put the question on the ballot. Mayor Mufi Hannemann hopes to begin construction on the system, beginning in Kapolei, late next year or in early 2010 and complete it by 2018.

Blocking the plan at this point would greatly jeopardize federal funds in the future for any major transit project in Honolulu, where the lineal nature of the island's leeward population is ideal for a single-line transit.

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