Honolulu’s rail recovery plan submitted to Federal Transit Administration

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has transmitted its rail recovery plan to the Federal Transit Administration.

The recovery plan, submitted Friday, notably shortens the route to end in Ka­­kaako rather than continuing on to Ala Moana Center and delays construction of the Pearl Highlands parking garage.

The FTA made an agreement with HART to build a 20-mile rail system from West Kapolei to Ala Moana Center, pledging $1.55 billion for the project provided certain benchmarks were met. The rail project is still waiting on $744 million from the FTA, and due to cost overruns, HART has been unable to complete the project as planned.

The FTA gave the rail authority until June 30 to establish an acceptable recovery plan to still retain the federal funds.

The recovery plan truncates the rail line to 18.75 miles and decreases the cost of the project to $9.93 billion from about $11.3 billion. The line would now end at the so-called Civic Center Station instead of Ala Moana Center.

It also removes 1,600 parking spaces for rail users at Pearl Highlands due to the high cost of base material. The projected cost for the parking garage was $330 million, with each stall costing more than $200,000.

HART submitted the recovery plan to the FTA after the Honolulu City Council voted 6-3 to approve it on Wednesday. Council members Heidi Tsuneyoshi, Carol Fukunaga and Augie Tulba voted against the plan.

“We are so thankful for the support of Mayor (Rick) Blangiardi, the HART Board of Directors and the Honolulu City Council as we worked together to develop a plan that allows us to deliver a fully functional rail system to serve the people and visitors of Oahu,” said HART CEO Lori Kahikina in a statement.

“We look forward to discussing the details of the plan with the FTA and formalizing a path forward.”

Kahikina does not expect the FTA to immediately approve the recovery plan but also said she doesn’t think negotiations between the two agencies would take long since they have been in close contact throughout the process of drafting the plan. She also noted the FTA has a different amount than the HART recovery plan for contin­gencies for “unforeseen unknowns.”

Another issue that could be addressed during negotiations is the recovery plan’s payment structure, which would have the FTA release $250 million of its remaining funding in 2023, $250 million the following year and $244 million the third year. If the FTA were to deliver the full $744 million all at once, it would save the project about $130 million in financing costs.

Any changes to the recovery plan made by the FTA would have to be approved by the HART board and the City Council.