The locations of up to 212 properties affected by Honolulu's elevated commuter rail will not be released before Tuesday's rail referendum.

That means some residents who may be displaced by the rail project won't be notified before they vote on whether to authorize it.

Voters will be asked on Tuesday whether the city should move forward with plans to build a 20-mile elevated commuter rail line from West Kapolei to Ala Moana.

The city plans to release a new study on the rail project this weekend, but that study does not include the location of properties that may be fully or partially acquired to make room for the rail, the city said yesterday.

Those properties include 20 residences, one church and up to 67 businesses, according to an executive summary of the study.

The city is releasing the study, known officially as the draft environmental impact statement, piecemeal. The executive summary was released Thursday.

The federal government authorized the city to release the study on Wednesday. However, the city has said it could not release the entire study immediately due to technical issues.

City Council member and mayoral candidate Ann Kobayashi yesterday criticized her opponent, incumbent Mufi Hannemann, for withholding the study and the locations of properties affected by the rail project.

"It's an insult to taxpayers who paid for" the study, she said. "We have to share the information that's available."

City spokesman Bill Brennan yesterday said the draft environmental study does not contain the list of affected properties.

According to an e-mail from Brennan, the "city is taking the responsible and considerate step of personally notifying owners of properties that will potentially be impacted by the rail transit project."

In August, the city started notifying some residents living in the path of the rail that all or part of their properties may be condemned. At the time, city officials said they would not disclose how many letters were sent or the number or location of properties affected until the project's draft environmental impact statement was released.

While rail opponents said the city should be releasing more information on the project, city officials said they're releasing information faster than they're required. The city said the full draft EIS will be available on the Internet at www.honolulutransit.org sometime this weekend.

TRAFFIC DISPUTE

Details selectively released by the city show the train could reduce traffic congestion by as much as 23 percent in 2030. However, the city has not disclosed how much worse traffic in 2030 will be compared with today's conditions.

"The EIS reference to a summer traffic reduction of 23 percent is pure fantasy," said Panos Prevedouros, a University of Hawai'i engineering professor who came in third in the primary election for mayor. "By the mythical math the city used to achieve that figure, the EzWay (elevated bus lanes proposed by Kobayashi) will reduce traffic by 61 percent."

Among the items not released in the city's summary were details about the project's energy consumption and emissions. Other details that are anticipated to be in the new study include:

• The cost of the full 28-mile alignment of the train. Two years ago, the West Kapolei to University of Hawai'i-Manoa and Waikiki route was estimated to cost an inflation-adjusted $6.8 billion.

• How much it will cost to acquire properties in the path of rail.

• The traffic impacts created by rapid development in the 'Ewa plain.

• The location of up to 23 buildings that will experience moderate noise impacts from the train.

• Detailed forecasts of revenues and expenses for both capital costs and operations and maintenance of the train.

SENATOR'S SUPPORT

Hannemann hopes to break ground on the project in December 2009 and start limited operations between East Kapolei and Waipahu in 2012. A 20-mile version to Ala Moana would open in 2018, according to city plans.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, spoke in favor of the rail project in a meeting with The Advertiser's editorial board yesterday.

Inouye said there is risk in a project of this magnitude but that the city should move forward to reduce traffic gridlock, create jobs and improve the environment through less automobile pollution.

Inouye, who has appeared in campaign advertisements on behalf of rail, said he has been publicly speaking out in favor of the project after polls showed support had fallen with the downturn in the economy.

"We have to meet the needs of tomorrow. And tomorrow calls for less congestion and more jobs," Inouye said.