Will transit mar your view, rattle your home?
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer
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A decisive vote on mass transit is set for Friday and will be preceded by more heated debate over the route and the technology to use.
However, environmental concerns have yet to be fully weighed.
Noise. View planes. Natural and archaeological resources.
Residences and businesses that could be displaced.
Although the concerns have not been on the forefront so far, they raise issues about how mass transit could affect the daily lives of people who work, live, play and travel along the route.
Several groups are watching.
"We would want to make sure that the impacts on visual environment are minimalized and mitigated as much as possible," said Bob Loy, director of environmental programs for The Outdoor Circle.
Many of the issues are discussed in a 74-page draft document, the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project Environmental Consequences: Supporting Information, that was completed for the city by planner Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas in late October.
The report concludes that faced with the alternatives of just increasing the bus fleet, establishing a hub-and-spoke network and other low-cost fixes, and constructing a two-lane, grade-separated "managed lane" project for buses and other transit vehicles, "the Fixed Guideway Alternative would generate the greatest environmental benefit for several elements of the environment." It noted, however, that impacts would differ depending on the alignments chosen.
NOISE
Depending on the route, the study estimates that a light rapid transit or a rapid rail line could cause up to 400-plus "noise impacts," with each affecting a house or apartment unit, according to Laurence Spurgeon, supervising environmental engineer for Parsons Brinckerhoff.
About 260 Salt Lake residences, primarily along Salt Lake Boulevard, would be most affected if the city puts the route there rather than along Aolele Street near Honolulu airport.
About 55 could feel a "severe impact" from noise generated by the rail line, and the remaining 205 or so a "moderate impact." There would be no impact in the airport area if that route was chosen. The Council Transportation Committee last week decided to leave that route decision up to Mayor Mufi Hannemann.
The study also estimates there would be a moderate impact on:
"The rail technology today is not nearly as loud as the old rail technology from the 1950s," Spurgeon said. "Each train going by is only about as loud as a Fed Ex truck."
The study said solid 3- to 5-foot barriers on the guideway system could lower noise at these locations by at least 5 decibels.
PARCELS
About 187 parcels from Kapolei to Waikiki could be affected either through a complete displacement or redevelopment, and some could be acquired, as a result of an elevated guideway project.
The biggest impact would likely be in urban Honolulu along the Nimitz Highway/Halekauwila Street/Kapi'olani Boulevard corridor, where an estimated 77 parcels may be affected. Some could include full purchases.
About 39 parcels also could be affected in Kalihi under either the Dillingham Boulevard or North King Street configuration. The study estimates as many as 25 of the parcels could be acquired and may involve building displacements.
A related issue that council members may be considering is a federal requirement dubbed "environmental justice" that calls on cities to not disproportionately burden minority and low-income populations.
The report identifies about 60 parcels along the proposed route in the "earth justice" category, including 25 along the Nimitz/Halekauwila/Kapi'olani corridor and about 25 more in Kalihi.
VIEW PLANES
The report states "all of the alignments proposed under the Fixed Guideway Alternative would have the potential for impacts to exceptional trees, historic and cultural resources, the existing aesthetic environment's character, the existing light environment, viewer groups, and aesthetic policies."
The study identifies two sections along the preferred route as having visual impacts of "moderate to high." One is the Kamokila-Farrington corridor in Kapolei; the other is from Farrington in 'Ewa to Kamehameha Highway at Aloha Stadium.
The North King Street corridor, if chosen, also would see its view plane affected in a "moderate to high" manner while the alternative, the Dillingham corridor, rates as a "low to moderate" impact area.
According to the study: "The elevated guideway structure has the potential to be out of scale or character to settings that are more historic, pedestrian-oriented, and low-profile or open."
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL IMPACTS
While the fixed guideway alternative could affect natural resources more than the other options, the actual impacts are not anticipated to be severe.
"I think the biggest concern is street trees," Spurgeon said.
For instance, about 76 kamani trees along Kapolei Parkway will need to be transplanted. So, too, would 26 kamani trees and one monkeypod along Dillingham, if that route is chosen, as well as 17 notable monkeypod trees along the medians of Kona Street and Kapi'olani Boulevard.
According to the report: "The potential for encountering archaeological resources is dependent on the construction of methods used."
Spurgeon said while elevated structures such as that proposed for the guideway require columns to be placed underground, the impact would be less than with an underground route.
"Archaeological mitigation would include burial treatment, archaeological data recovery and archaeological monitoring," the report said. "If some flexibility in the construction design exists, it may be possible to preserve the archaeological resources in place."
The study rates the areas with the highest potential for burial discoveries as the region between downtown and Waikiki.
Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, had not seen the report, but said he is worried that the project could end up doing more for setting up opportunities for ambitious land developers rather than solving the island's traffic problems.
Curtis, who has not read the study, said that in the meantime, communities, view planes and other aspects of O'ahu would be disrupted.
Life of the Land favors expansion of the bus system including a continuous series of express buses along five regional routes. "We need to cut back on our use of fossil fuels and we do that by encouraging people to take buses," he said. "Having a one-route train line will not do that."
Spurgeon said the study is not intended to be a complete environmental impact statement. "The idea is to do just enough analysis to tell the difference between the alternatives," he said.
If the council approves the project on Friday, the EIS process would likely start in February, likely in conjunction with design of the project. The process, which would include a series of public hearings, would last about a year.
Mike Leidemann contributed to this report. Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.
