Officials add
to traffic options

Councilmen propose a Ford Island
route and a "people mover"

Imagine catching a morning commuter ferry that takes you to Honolulu Harbor, where a monorail transports you to work in Waikiki.

Or picture yourself driving from Ewa on a new toll highway that crosses Pearl Harbor and Ford Island, eventually meeting up with several arteries into town.

Far-fetched? Maybe not.

With discussions chugging along at the state and city over whether Honolulu should move ahead with rail transit to relieve Leeward Oahu traffic congestion, other ideas to ease commuting are quickly circulating that could complement each other or rail transit.

"I have always said that we should be pushing for a system and not just a project," said City Council Transportation Chairman Nestor Garcia. "I think (these ideas) would have come about anyway because of the general concern that we need to do something about traffic."

Old and new ideas come when transportation is center stage at both the state and city level, with proposals ranging from an intra-island commuter ferry, the Nimitz flyover elevated highway and high-occupancy toll highway lanes.

Now, members of the City Council are weighing in.

Harbor crossing

Apo's proposal calls for the new highway to cross the Ewa plain and follow Iroquois Road to the west shores of Pearl Harbor. It would then continue across the harbor via a new bridge to Waipio Peninsula, where the road would continue to a second new bridge to Ford Island. Cars would then exit Ford Island via the causeway, which would likely need to be expanded, to Kamehameha Highway.

For Ewa residents who inch forward on Ford Weaver Road during rush hour, Apo estimates the route could shave as much as 30 minutes off the commute.

"You look at the big picture of what this will solve. Yes, it's a new route for Ewa and probably some of Kapolei, but by taking all of that traffic off of this (part of) H-1," he said, pointing to a map showing a segment of the freeway above Ewa, "you open it up for Leeward Oahu, Central Oahu. And even Pearl City and Aiea will see improvement to their traffic situation both in the morning and in the afternoon."

Apo talked to several key players including the Navy, which owns much of the land the new highway would cross.

"The Navy was very open to the idea. ... They want to be a part of the discussions as we move forward, figuring out how this may work and how it may be routed."

Cmdr. Mark McDonald, U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman, agreed that the Navy wants to be included in the discussions and try to be "part of the solution."

McDonald said among the issues are safety, security and the historical significance of the area. "We've got to take an in-depth look at what the impacts are and weigh those very carefully," he said.

Apo visited members of Hawaii's congressional delegation, which is key to obtaining federal funding, and they were also receptive to the idea, he said.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye is awaiting more details on the project, said his press secretary, Mike Yuen.

People may be interested because the highway could be the lure in bringing an aircraft carrier and its air wing to Hawaii, Apo said. The carrier would be based at Pearl Harbor, but air wing operations would be housed at Kalaeloa and the new road could provide a direct link.

This way, Apo said, the project could qualify for federal defense funding.

If federal defense money isn't enough to cover the cost, he said private developers could also help to finance it.

A "small toll" could be charged to highway users to pay for operating and maintaining the road without burdening the city or the state, Apo said.

Dale Evans, president of Charley's Taxi and a member of the Alliance for Traffic Improvement, said she looks forward to seeing details of the proposed highway, noting it is about time Hawaii consider toll roads, which have long been used on the mainland.

The new highway could also provide a route for the rail line, she said.

Apo said he hopes to get money for planning and design in next year's city budget with hopes the highway can be a reality within the next five years.

'Teeny weeny' rail

It's what Cachola calls "teeny weeny" rail compared to a $2.6 billion rail proposal from Leeward Oahu to town.

A similar system in Detroit, for example, utilizes an electronic elevated monorail, which loops a 2.9-mile route around the downtown area. But Cachola said he's not advocating a particular route or a particular kind of system, although he's not keen on blocking the view plane from Ala Moana Boulevard.

Cachola's people-mover route would be less than two miles long traveling between Aloha Tower and Waikiki and would cost a fraction of larger rail to construct -- about $200 million -- and take far less time to complete, Cachola said.

He has championed the idea since he served as state House tourism chairman when at least one private developer was interested constructing a minirail system.

Cachola said that because the people-mover system could be built quicker and with less money than the larger 22-mile rail project, the people mover could be looked upon as a pilot project.

"If we have this people mover built sooner than the big one ... it will educate the users and the public on how (rail) works," Cachola said.

He said he doesn't think the people mover will detract from the discussion on the larger rail project and he even thinks that the people mover will connect nicely with a larger rail project -- possibly as a spur from the main route -- as well as linking with the mayor's ferry idea and city buses.

To pay for construction, Cachola said a combination of federal and private financing could be used. Businesses along the route could also invest in developing stations near their shops and fares could help pay for operational costs and debt.

Evans said Cachola's idea is not needed because there are already both public and private transportation carriers running that route. "We are all people movers."