After 40-Year Battle, Train May Roll for Oahu

From the farmlands here on the western side of Oahu, the hotels of Honolulu and the bluffs of Diamond Head can be seen rising 20 miles in the distance. This is rural Hawaii: waves and coastline on one side, lush mountains on the other and barely a building or vehicle in sight.

But sometime this spring, a $5.3 billion project is scheduled to rise from the Kapolei farmlands that offers powerful evidence of how much this island, a symbol of Pacific tranquillity, is changing. A 40-year battle to build a mass transit line appears to be nearing its end. Barring a court intervention, construction is to begin in March on a 20-mile rail line that will be elevated 40 feet in the air, barreling over farmland, commercial districts and parts of downtown Honolulu, and stretching from here to Waikiki.

The two-track line —a 30-foot-wide span, with 21 elevated stations — is designed to accommodate an increasing crush of commuters and tourists while encouraging new growth and development, particularly on this undeveloped part of the island. The Honolulu rail project, scheduled for completion in 2018, seems certain to change sharply the nature of much of the south side of the island, as well as downtown Honolulu.

The project has drawn fierce opposition from many environmentalists and some community leaders, who describe it as a concrete gash across green Oahu that will blight pristine coastlines and farmland at the western end and throw a shadow over city streets in Honolulu. It could still be delayed or frozen by a pending suit in federal court from opponents who assert that planners failed to properly explore alternatives to the project in environmental studies.

full: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/us/hawaii-train-line-is-likely-to-rise-on-oahu.html