Concerns over views and infrastructure blight have some in Honolulu opposing the city's plans to build its planned light rail with portions of elevated track.
"Officials with the Honolulu Chapter of the American Institute of Architects want the city to look at building the transit system near ground level in portions of downtown to reduce its visual impact and potential cost.
But a Hannemann administration spokesman, Bill Brennan, said that in its review of a route through Honolulu in 2006, the City Council decided to select a system that includes an elevated rail."
"...Okino said the system is similar to the elevated rail operated by the Vancouver Skytrain, an operation established in 1986 that has been so successful it "pays for itself."
He said elevating the rail allows the system to be fully automated and reduces the cost of operation tremendously.
At stake is a projected $5.4 billion rail transit system from East Kapolei to Ala Moana, $1.4 billion of which would be paid by the federal government and the remainder by the city.
The city plans to break ground for the project by the end of this year and is receiving comments about a draft environmental impact statement for the rail system."
Read the full story: Elevated argument
Skyline Rail, Now Serving Honolulu
In a historic day for public transit, Skyline Rail, a project once deemed the worst transit project in the United States due to extreme cost overruns and construction delays, finally opened to the public at the end of June.
Honolulu Light Rail to Open in June
The city’s first light rail line will finally begin service after more than a half century of planning.
Honolulu Rail Cost Overruns Now Exceed $1 Billion
Add another $200 million to the $910 million shortfall already facing Honolulu's rail project. The changing circumstances surrounding the project won't make it any easier to create a viable funding plan to make up the difference.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand
For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello