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We are too far down the road to demolish the built portion of the Honolulu rail project and do something far better like high-occupancy toll or HOT lanes. The opportunity to address Oahu’s congestion head-on has left the island.

I propose that we continue with the ongoing work but stop approval of new contracts and major change orders. We should take a detailed look at the audit, although I would not trust it as being incisive and comprehensive enough.

We should hire an auditor who specializes in auditing transit agencies to tell us what’s gone wrong so far. That’s the part of looking at the past and learning from the approximately 20 percent of the completed construction and the roughly 50 percent of the route that has gone out to bid.

One lesson learned is that right now construction costs on Oahu are too high because of a glut of projects. In order to stay within budget, rail project construction needs to slow down. This construction megaproject can be a great economic buffer in the next recession. The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) should slow down now and be ready to let out more contracts at the first signs of a recession which could hit in the next couple years.

The second and harder part is what to do with the second half of the route. I propose to continue the planned route all the way to Middle Street and stop there, thus completing 16 of the 20 miles. At Middle Street, rail will connect with TheBus at the Middle Street intermodal center, and we can add extra express bus circulators to downtown and Waikiki that will serve travelers just as good as the rail will.

In addition we can also build the 1.5-mile Nimitz Viaduct originally proposed in 1994 and provide a ramp to/from the intermodal center. In this way, the Nimitz Viaduct will provide express bus and handivan service to downtown and Kalihi. It will also relieve congestion on the complex Keehi Interchange and reduce Airport-Waikiki peak travel times by about 25 percent.

The first 16 miles of the current route have 13 stations, and the train can easily reach a cruise speed of 50 mph. The last four miles have eight stations, and the train will never exceed 40 mph.

The last four miles of the rail will devastate the city and cost about $1 billion dollars each. These last four miles have a high density of stations which will slow the whole route down. The first 16 miles have 13 stations, and the train can easily reach its cruise speed of 50 mph. The last four miles have eight stations, and the train will never exceed 40 mph.

As we all understand, in a pipeline, like the rail or the Zipper lane, if one vehicle travels at a low speed, all following will travel at the same low speed.

As I was quoted as saying in a recent Star-Advertiser column by Richard Borreca, I’d negotiate with the Federal Transit Administration, and instead of the four miles downtown,  propose adding five miles in the other direction to serve Kapolei, Honokai Hale and Ko Olina, including a 4,000 stall park-and-ride structure for Waianae coast commuters.

Half of this rail extension could be done at ground level for a much lower cost per mile. This extension would be tremendously beneficial in reducing vehicles miles of travel, which is a primary objective of Oahu’s transportation plans. It will be a critical lifeline to Waianae coast commuters, who are disproportionately affected by the spikes in oil prices.

This version of HART rail would be a uniformly fast commuter rail service that addresses the growing parts of Oahu, leaves the old town undisturbed and serves Aloha stadium, the airport and the intermodal center at Middle Street. It is transportation that nourishes the concept of the Second City, which is the plan for Oahu, instead of permanently tethering it to the old city.

This plan would cost about $7.5 billion, not including the Nimitz Viaduct. It is doable within the current construction budget, barring a major recession, tourism downturn and the corresponding drop in GET collections.

We need an open-minded mayor, governor, city council and Congressional delegation to make something out of the HART disaster that has clearly become a tax sinkhole.