HART to Hold Community Meetings on Newest Rail Station
Designs
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) will hold
a series of community meetings starting next week to discuss rail
station designs and to collect input from the public.
HART Executive Director and CEO Dan Grabauskas, Honolulu Mayor
Kirk Caldwell, HART Board Chairwoman Carrie Okinaga and City
Council Transportation Committee Chairman Breene Harimoto held a
press conference today in Waipahu to announce the community
meetings and to unveil a model of the West Loch station.
The first meeting will be held Tuesday, June 25, for the
“Farrington Highway Station Group,” which includes the West Loch,
Waipahu Transit Center and Leeward Community College stations. The
meeting will be held at Waipahu Intermediate School, 94-455
Farrington Hwy. Registration is at 6 p.m. with the meeting starting
at 6:30 p.m.
A meeting to discuss the East Kapolei and UH-West Oahu stations
will be held Tuesday, July 30 at Kapolei Hale at 1000 Uluohia
Street. Registration for the Kapolei meeting starts at 6 p.m., with
the meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“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,” Grabauskas said. “We are looking forward
to sharing our latest designs and to receiving some feedback on
what the public would like to see.”
“Our administration is committed to building rail better, and
ensuring the public has the opportunity to provide input on the
rail system whenever possible is an important part of that effort,”
said Mayor Caldwell. “We hope residents will be excited about the
designs for their respective stations and see these stations as
future gathering centers in their community.”
“We invite the community to partner with us in this process,”
said Okinaga. “We understand that our communities are unique and
that makes it all the more important to hold a series of meetings
throughout the alignment so that the public has several
opportunities to weigh in.”
“This is an excellent opportunity for the community to learn
more about the project and to share their thoughts. The rail system
and these stations will be important parts of the community and we
want to make sure the stations, where possible, reflect the rich
character and history of Waipahu,” said Harimoto.
Community meetings for the other regional station groups from
Pearl City to Honolulu will be held in the future. Two public
meetings are planned for each regional station group. Station
design contracts were recently awarded for the Airport and urban
Honolulu phases of the route.