Honolulu Rail, Sea Level Rise,
and the University of Hawaii
The rail project is the largest construction project in the history of the state. Over 84% of the funding ($7.8B of the total $9.3B) is coming from taxes paid by residents and visitors. Given the cost and the expected longevity (100+ years) of this major mass-transit project, prudent planning of the route is crucial.
The current route was planned in the 1990’s before there was world-wide consensus on climate change and its effects on the environment. Since 2017, numerous studies and reports have documented these effects locally and there is now widespread agreement that sea levels in Hawaii will rise between 3.2 and 6 feet by 2100. State and county officials have stressed the need to begin planning for sea level rise in low-lying areas but only token changes have been made to the rail project. The final 4.2-mile leg of the project contains four stations that will be underwater during high tide within the next few decades, yet the only change to the rail project has been to raise stairway landings at stations by 6 feet, leaving commuters to negotiate flooded streets on their own in order to reach their workplaces. We believe it is imperative to change the rail route in the center city to higher ground where sea level rise and high tide flooding will not occur.
The other factor that has changed recently is public acknowledgement of the importance of rail going to the University of Hawaii (UH). Residents have known for years that freeway traffic eases dramatically when the UH is not in session, yet it has only been since 2018 that City and State officials have acknowledged the need for rail to reach UH. In a poll done last year (July 2019), Market Trends Pacific found that a strong majority of residents favored rail to UH rather than ending at Ala Moana Center or Middle Street.
The current route was planned in the 1990’s before there was world-wide consensus on climate change and its effects on the environment. Since 2017, numerous studies and reports have documented these effects locally and there is now widespread agreement that sea levels in Hawaii will rise between 3.2 and 6 feet by 2100. State and county officials have stressed the need to begin planning for sea level rise in low-lying areas but only token changes have been made to the rail project. The final 4.2-mile leg of the project contains four stations that will be underwater during high tide within the next few decades, yet the only change to the rail project has been to raise stairway landings at stations by 6 feet, leaving commuters to negotiate flooded streets on their own in order to reach their workplaces. We believe it is imperative to change the rail route in the center city to higher ground where sea level rise and high tide flooding will not occur.
The other factor that has changed recently is public acknowledgement of the importance of rail going to the University of Hawaii (UH). Residents have known for years that freeway traffic eases dramatically when the UH is not in session, yet it has only been since 2018 that City and State officials have acknowledged the need for rail to reach UH. In a poll done last year (July 2019), Market Trends Pacific found that a strong majority of residents favored rail to UH rather than ending at Ala Moana Center or Middle Street.