HART to solicit public input on Honolulu station designs

Starting next week, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) will host a series of community meetings to discuss station designs for the Honolulu Rail Transit project.

The meetings will be held June 25 for the Farrington Highway Station "group," which includes West Loch, Waipahu Transit Center and Leeward Community College stations. A meeting to discuss the East Kapolei and University of Hawaii-West Oahu stations will be held June 30, HART officials said in a press release.

"Our rail stations are in the process of being redesigned to be modular, smaller and more user-friendly, and to fit better with surrounding communities," said HART Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Dan Grabauskas.

Community meetings for the other regional station groups, from Pearl City to Honolulu, will be scheduled later. Two public meetings are planned for each regional station group.

Station design contracts have been awarded for the Airport and urban Honolulu phases of the rail route.

Meanwhile, a public hearing will be held July 9 for the project's Draft Supplemental  Environmental Impact Statement Section 4(f) Evaluation.

When the project is completed, Honolulu's automated electric-powered rail system will operate from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center, with stations at 21 commuter and visitor destinations. The first section, from Kapolei to Aloha Stadium, is slated to begin operating in 2015; the second portion extending to Middle Street, in 2017; and the fully operational system to Ala Moana Center, in 2019.