Council approves transit stop sites

The plan details more than 40 stations from Kapolei to Waikiki

The City Council has approved a planning document outlining the general location of the stops for the $3.7 billion mass transit system, a step necessary for the project to receive further federal funding.

The document, called the Public Infrastructure Map, contains more than 40 stops for the elevated system from East Kapolei to the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Waikiki. While the locations of most stops are narrowed down to the intersections, city officials will not know the exact size and shape of the stops until the engineering studies are completed later this year.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann and two state agencies settled on a tentative stop along North-South Road, about a five-minute walk from the future University of Hawaii-West Oahu campus in Kapolei.

UH-West Oahu Chancellor Gene Awakuni said the city agreed to build a pedestrian overpass above North-South Road that will connect the stop to the campus. Under the tentative agreement, there will also be a 5-acre park-and-ride lot by the stop.

"I think we've reached a consensus, and we support this wholeheartedly," Awakuni told City Council members Wednesday. "We think it's an ideal location because it not only serves UH-West Oahu, but it serves (the nearby) Hoopili Development as well."

In a news release, Hannemann said, "It has always been my goal to have a rail station located on or adjacent to the new campus. I'm confident this station will serve the campus very well."

The city and UH-West Oahu had disagreed over previous proposals, including one where the alignment went through the campus and another where the stop would have been a 15-minute walk away.

The city had been waiting for a written agreement from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, allowing the system to cross land it owned in the area.

Under the tentative agreement, UH-West Oahu will also expand its campus with 105 acres of DLNR land mauka of its planned location.

At a meeting Wednesday, Councilman Romy Cachola unsuccessfully pushed for an additional transit stop in the heart of the Mapunapuna business area, which is in his Council district. City Transportation Services Director Wayne Yoshioka said a stop there is nearly impossible because that area slopes downward.

Councilman Charles Djou attempted to have two stops removed on the Waikiki leg, which is not part of the first phase of the system. Djou, who opposes the mass transit system, argued that several residents and business owners did not want the stops because the alignment would eliminate one lane of Kuhio Avenue, a busy street, and would disrupt the area.

Yoshioka said the Waikiki stops, located at Kalaimoku Street and Liliuokalani Avenue, are consistent with an extensive planning document the City Council approved in 2006.