Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday she is worried whether Honolulu will be able to afford to pay for and operate a proposed elevated rail system and that she has heard similar views expressed by the Federal Transit Administration.

But city Managing Director Kirk Caldwell said nothing was wrong with the financial plan for rail and that the FTA has supported the city's effort enough so it has authorized $35 million to be spent in preliminary engineering.

Lingle and Caldwell made the comments yesterday after the governor hosted a forum at the state Capitol featuring a Honolulu architects group that wants the city to change its plans and build a rail system that is elevated but drops to ground level in certain sections.

The group, American Institute of Architects Honolulu chapter, wants to preserve ocean and mountain views in some areas, including Chinatown and the state Capitol, and says a ground-level system is cheaper.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann's administration, saying building at ground level in parts of the city would slow the rail system, has proposed an elevated system.

The city's proposed 20-mile, $5.5 billion rail project between Kapolei and Ala Moana is undergoing review by the FTA.

  Debate Spurred Over Oahu's Elevated Rail Transit Plan

 

Supporters and detractors met at the State Capitol to debate the merits of an elevated rail transit system.

[ Watch ]

 

More than 200 construction workers from the building trades held a rally outside the Capitol, calling for Lingle to support Hannemann's proposed plan.

William “;Roy”; Johnson, an official with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said his members needed jobs, and about 40 percent of them were unemployed compared with no unemployment up to 2009.

“;I think it's time to stop all this nonsense and get it going,”; Johnson said.

Some Kapolei residents said the traffic into Honolulu has affected their family's quality of life and forced them to wake up hours earlier to beat rush-hour traffic.

Lingle said she supports a rail system but thinks Hannemann needs to take another look at the financing plan for rail, in view of FTA officials' comments to her recently.

“;They said they are wary of any plan that takes so much money from the bus system that it degrades its existing service,”; Lingle said.

She said she also thinks the city should take another look at AIA-Honolulu's hybrid rail system.

“;The AIA has said today that they've tried to work with the city, but the city has not wanted to consider their plan, and I think they should,”; Lingle said.

Lingle said she felt compelled to share the AIA's views, after listening to its presentation last year.

Lingle said before deciding on taking the next step, she wants to review the final environmental impact statement for the proposed rail project.

Lingle said her administration has not received the document.

“;I don't want to prejudge what the final EIS has to say,”; she said.

Caldwell said Lingle's comments were “;outrageous,”; and he raised questions about the accuracy of her statement.

He said taking another look as proposed by the AIA would require the city to begin a new environmental review process.

He said the issues raised by the architects were debated several years ago by the City Council, which decided to select an elevated rail system.

“;She should get behind this and work constructively and not at the last minute come back and say let's look at something that was totally debated before the Council,”; Caldwell said.

He said he hopes Lingle will support the elevated-rail project proposed by the city.

“;We're hopeful that she'll step back, not make this about politics. ... She is playing a dangerous game, and in fact she could kill this project.”;