Major planning work for Honolulu's multibillion-dollar mass transit system is expected to accelerate quickly after a key decision due this month.

The city is putting together a huge deal that will guide construction of the project's initial 20-mile segment, and include environmental studies of planned extensions in each direction.

The two years of planning is expected to cost well over $50 million, and perhaps more than $100 million.

For weeks, officials have been quietly negotiating a contract for a general engineering consultant. A decision is expected within days.

Details of the talks remain confidential, and officials declined to say how many companies are bidding on the deal. One of the world's largest planning and engineering firms, Parsons Brinckerhoff, is believed to be a top contender.

The company performed much of the early planning work for the project, including an analysis of potential alternatives, costing about $10 million. The company's Honolulu project manager did not return calls over several days.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has about 10,000 employees developing and operating infrastructure projects in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and in the Pacific.

Company founder William Barclay Parsons was chief engineer for New York City's first subway, completed in 1904. The firm has worked on many other transportation projects since then, including the Bay Area Rapid Transit system that connects San Francisco with neighboring cities and the region's major airport.

The company was program manager for O'ahu's massive H-3 Freeway project, completed in 1997, and helped design the Admiral Clarey Bridge to Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, which opened in 1998.

MAYOR STRESSES SPEED

Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who has invested much of his political capital in Honolulu's transit project and faces re-election next year, said speed is a top priority.

"Bottom line: We want this project to move along quickly," he said.

Hannemann wants to begin construction by 2009, an ambitious schedule that some skeptics have characterized as impossible.

City Council chairwoman Barbara Marshall said she would not be surprised by a ground-breaking ceremony in 2009, but strongly doubts any serious construction work could begin by then.

"If breaking ground is a bunch of people with shovels in the middle of a field, I think we will," she said. "But as for being prepared to start building anything in 2009, I don't think so. But I know the mayor is working very hard to make that happen."

Several key steps remain before construction can begin.

They include completion of a draft environmental impact statement for the entire 29-mile planned route from West Kapolei to Manoa and Waikiki; preliminary engineering of the 20-mile initial operating segment from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center; and a final environmental statement for the longer route.

The company that lands the deal being negotiated now will handle all that work, along with subcontractors, according to city contracting documents.

Most of the planning is to be paid for with revenue from the 0.5 percent excise tax surcharge that took effect on O'ahu in January. This year's city budget earmarks $71 million from the surcharge for the transit project.

Hawai'i's congressional delegation is also pushing for a $20 million federal appropriation to help pay for preliminary engineering of the main 20-mile segment.

The new consultant could be tapped for additional engineering beyond that segment if enough money becomes available, contracting documents show.

The environmental studies will examine two potential paths in the middle of the planned route. One follows Salt Lake Boulevard and bypasses Honolulu International Airport, while the other forks off from Aloha Stadium to the airport before rejoining the main route near Middle Street.

Hannemann had initially pushed for the airport route, but the sharply divided City Council chose the Salt Lake path in February to secure a crucial swing vote from Councilman Romy Cachola, who represents the area.

Council transportation chairman Nestor Garcia said it remains possible that the council will switch the route back to the airport, but that he is reserving judgment until the draft environmental study is completed about one year from now.

"I hope everyone will take a good look at what the (study) says," Garcia said.

Besides those options, the studies will examine planned extensions to East Kapolei, Manoa and Waikiki.

Hannemann said that's very important because it will help construction of those branches move quickly later and bring the whole project to fruition without stopping for new environmental studies.

The winning consultant will also plan the acquisition of property needed for the project. Early estimates show that the city could need to buy all or part of 139 parcels in the main 20-mile segment, including seven residential properties.

CHOOSING VEHICLE TYPE

In addition to the planning work, the consultant is expected to design a process for one of the most controversial aspects of the project — choosing the specific type of vehicles that will operate on the system.

They could feature steel wheels on train tracks, rubber tires that run on a monorail, or a magnetic levitation system.

Hannemann maintains that a rail system would be best, but a few council members have been pushing for a bus-like system that could be considered if it meets criteria approved earlier.

Either way, the project is expected to cost $5 billion or more. Marshall said one of her main concerns is that money will be a big problem.

"I have great fear that we're going to wind up either with some edifice that starts and stops in the middle of nowhere, or that we're going to bankrupt the city trying to pay for it," she said.

The city expects to receive more than $150 million per year for the project from the new surcharge, which is to remain in effect for 15 years. Planners also expect to receive between $800 million and $1.2 billion from the Federal Transit Administration.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.