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Anthony Han opened his Iwilei chicken restaurant during the pandemic. It was a troubling time for restaurants but seemed more promising than his previous venture: making and selling karaoke vending machines.

“All bars closed. And then no one’s singing,” he said. 

As pandemic restrictions eased, Han was hopeful for his roadside restaurant. He added seating out front, making Soul Chicken stand out among the strip malls of Dillingham Boulevard.

“And then it was kind of busy,” he said. But soon came the construction.

Traffic along Dillingham Boulevard has been heavily congested since utility reconstruction work for the rail project began in late 2022. For 24 hours a day, vehicles are reduced to one lane in each direction and left turns are largely prohibited between Middle Street and Kaaahi Street, a span almost two miles long.

That makes it difficult to turn into many local businesses and curtails foot traffic so some customers don’t bother to stop by anymore, said Han.

His daily revenue is less than half of what it was pre-construction, he said, and he feels that the City and County of Honolulu could do more to help owners like himself weather the hardship.

Soul Chicken is one of many businesses along Dillingham Boulevard that have seen declining revenues, a change that owners at least partially blame on rail construction.

To help compensate them, the City Council voted 7-2 to provide up to $10,000 per fiscal year each to eligible businesses, which were defined as those open since Jan. 1, 2022, with no more than 15 employees and no more than $750,000 in annual revenue.

Council members Tyler Dos-Santos Tam and Radiant Cordero, who represent parts of the Kalihi area, at the end of June. It’s an effort to jump-start a dormant fund previously set up to keep local businesses afloat during rail construction. That fund lacked a method for disbursing money, so the $750,000 that was deposited into it in 2018 sat unspent until lapsing back into the city’s general fund. 

The bill that passed Wednesday specifies disbursement requirements but lacks money.

Reviving A Dormant Fund

This stage of Dillingham Boulevard construction, which includes relocating utilities like power lines and sewer facilities, is expected to be completed in 2026, an important step toward the planned completion of the long-delayed Skyline rail project about five years later.

“While Skyline is a significant step forward in improving the City’s transportation ecosystem, we must remember that associated Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) calls for a mix of uses at rail stations and along the rail line,” Cordero said in a press release after the vote. “Therefore, in addition to looking forward to the creation of new affordable housing units, we should strive to retain the existing local businesses that are impacted by rail construction.”

Small businesses like the eateries and industrial shops that line Dillingham complain that the ensuing traffic woes discourage customers from visiting. Hungry people who would ordinarily stop at a chicken place on their way home might hesitate if they have to wait in extra traffic.

A promotional program called “” exists already. Businesses within a half mile of the rail alignment , and it is run by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. The rail agency promotes that program on social media platforms and via email.

“HART’s Public Involvement Team continues to conduct intense outreach to support all area businesses through the construction of the rail system, particularly along Dillingham Boulevard,” rail agency spokesman Joey Manahan said in a statement.

‘The Nail On The Coffin’

The mayor’s budget director Andrew Kawano testified Wednesday that the administration would work to implement the fund as a part of supporting transit-oriented development.

He originally opposed the bill at a budget committee meeting in January, saying it would be complicated to determine how to dole out the money considering businesses face many challenges.

“What had impacted the business beyond rail construction? Is the business still impacted by the pandemic? Are landlords starting to increase rent?” he said Wednesday. 

All three of those factors played a role in causing Tre Acio to close his T-shirt and screen-printing store Limited Addiction, which sat across the boulevard from Honolulu Community College for about nine years.

He said Covid-19 restrictions hit hard, then the landlord raised the rent. All of this weakened his business’ position even before the rail construction started.

Customers who didn’t want to brave the traffic would call and ask if the T-shirts could be delivered, he said, to which he would answer no. According to Acio, revenue fell by about 30% to 40%. He finally moved his business about seven months ago.

“There’s so much things that caused us to move,” said Acio. “But the rail was the nail on the coffin.” 

‘A Bag Of Worms’

If the bill is signed by the mayor, Honolulu would join cities like , and that offer money to small businesses impacted by transit construction. 

It’s still up in the air where the money will come from. The idea is that the council would allocate money in March as it puts together the city’s budget for next year.

Council member Calvin Say opposed the bill on Wednesday, citing the funding concerns.

“I do support something like that, but – not from the general fund now. We’ve got other priorities,” he said. Once a deal is reached with unions, for example, back hazard pay from the coronavirus pandemic could amount to tens of millions of dollars. 

And paying business owners affected by rail construction could set a precedent for all other future city construction projects, which Say called “a bag of worms.” Council member Val Okimoto also voted against the bill for the same reasons.

The uncertain scope of the fund could balloon as rail construction continues into downtown. Even still, the $10,000 yearly cap seems too small for some businesses.

“For a small mom and pops that’s making maybe half a million to a million dollars a year, $10,000 is not going to do nothing,” said Andrew Min of Min Plastics.

Supporters say it’s better than nothing.

“I think something can work, even if it is the most small amount,” said council member Andria Tupola.

“Hawaii’s Changing Economy” is supported by a grant from the as part of its CHANGE Framework project.