HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Light rail officials are breathing a sigh of relief after announcing the tender for the final three miles of the Honolulu skyline.
The offer is low enough to build the railway to Kakaako without exceeding the current budget.
The bid was nearly $400 million higher than expected, but railroad chief Lori Kahikina and Mayor Rick Blangiardi said it was still affordable.
“Well, that’s a big part of it. That’s what’s going to bring us home,” Blangiardi said.
“Of course, it turned out a bit more expensive, but we are still confident that we can afford this project,” said Kahikina.
The final section begins on Middle Street in Kalihi, then continues down Dillingham Boulevard and through Iwilei and Downtown to Kakaako.
Until the tender was issued, no one knew how much the route and the six stations would cost.
The response came from the sole bidder, Tutor Perini Corp. of California and Massachusetts, offering $1.66 billion. That’s $360 million, 28 percent more than the $1.3 billion HART had hoped for, Kahikina said.
“My heart sank, actually,” she said. “I wasn’t surprised. I just hoped and prayed that the number would be a little lower. We knew it would be higher than our estimate.”
That’s because construction costs have skyrocketed due to inflation and competing projects, but also because tax revenues are good and HART has set aside money for unexpected costs. The city believes the additional costs can be absorbed in the overall budget.
“We have the $9.8 billion that we thought we had,” Blangiardi said. “So that number for us is within those guidelines, keeps us on track and we feel very good about it.”
Tutor Perini is new to the project. None of the previous rail builders had applied, but he is not new to the transit space. He has handled a long list of projects on the mainland and in the Pacific. The HART CEO said his expertise will be helpful.
“They have some thoughts and ideas on how to streamline things, so we’re open to anything they want to share with us,” Kahikina said.
The contract provides for completion of the work by 2030.
The company told HART that the extension from Ala Moana to Ala Moana would cost an additional $325 million. The contract includes an option to build that extension, but it’s not clear if money will be available to restore the line to its originally planned configuration.
“So far things are going really well for us and I hope for the best,” said Blangiardi.
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