City Council Approves Transit 5-4

HONOLULU -- The Honolulu City Council on Tuesday narrowly approved a route for a proposed fixed-guideway mass transit that would go through Salt Lake Boulevard and bypass the Honolulu International Airport.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann initially proposed a minimum operable segment that was a 20-mile fixed-guideway system from Kapolei to Ala Moana by way of the airport.

Council members amended the proposed route last week when it was apparent that the MOS was not going to win approval.

Council members Charles Djou and Donovan Dela Cruz voiced their concern that the MOS did not include the University of Hawaii Manoa campus. They argued that the students would be among the most likely people to use the system.

Council Member Voting Results:

Tod Apo – Yes

Rod Tam – Yes

Romy Cachola – Yes

Gary Okino – Yes

Nestor Garcia – Yes

Donovan Dela Cruz – No

Ann Kobayashi – No

Charles Djou – No

Barbara Marshall – No

Council members peppered the representatives of the Department of Transportation Services with questions about potential alternatives that included an ammendment to stop short of UH at Puck's Alley.

The new route through Salt Lake will save about $100 million compared to the initial $3.6 billion plan.

The Hannemann Administration said it is comfortable with the new Salt Lake route because it qualifies for federal funding.

"No one has gotten their way a hundred percent all the time, but life isn't that way, and so we didn't get out first choice. We got our second choice and the second choice of course is that will meet the federal criteria and that was very important to me," Hannemann said.

Some council members and representatives of DTS said that some of the alternatives that included going to UH Manoa did not qualify for federal funding.

The next step is for the Department of Transportation Services to conduct a environmental impact statement that will look at the engineering that must be done along the route. The administration's goal is to break ground by 2009.