Proposed New Route

A mauka route for rail would begin at the Downtown end of Dillingham Boulevard where it meets North King Street. Instead of crossing to Nimitz Highway, the route would go from Dillingham to N. King Street to N. Beretaina Street mauka of Aala Park. The Downtown station would be located at the mauka end of Bishop Street at Beretania Street. From there, the route would run in the middle of South Beretania Street to the intersection of Beretania and University Ave (Puck’s Alley).

​“Reacting after the fact to establish adaptation strategies is likely to be less successful and costlier than taking proactive measures” – Honolulu City Climate Change Commission (Sea Level Rise Guidance Report 2018)

Elevated Rail on Beretania Street to the University of Hawaii

​Beretania Street would make an ideal route for elevated rail from Downtown to the University of Hawaii. Most of Beretania Street is 4 or 5 lanes wide, which allows for one lane to be used for the guideway columns’ leaving 3 lanes for car traffic. There is a 500-yard stretch between Isenberg and McCully Streets which currently has 3 lanes. An additional lane can easily be added on the mauka side in this stretch because existing set-back regulations have kept that space clear of structures. At present the additional land needed is used for residential yards and commercial parking lots. West of Artesian Street, Beretania has four lanes, and west of Punahou Street it has 5 lanes all the way to North King Street at Aala Park.

Transit Oriented Development

​There is a major opportunity for redevelopment of housing and retail along the S. Beretania Street corridor. Currently the land is underutilized, primarily with a variety of low-rise walk-up apartments and single-family houses. Neighborhoods along this corridor within a 10-minute walk of rail stations would be ideal for developing much-needed affordable housing in central Honolulu.