Aloha Stadium should be the Oahu multi-modal Transit Oriented Development site where there are major highways, gathering places, military DoD, Historic sites, Ferry landing and nearby airport. This makes the most sense.
An Aloha Stadium multi-modal transit site is much more disaster resistant to floods, tsunamis, sea level rise. It has the best connections to all major highways on Oahu. A Washington State type Pearl Harbor Ferry could transport buses and vans from Lima Pier, West Loch across Pearl Harbor to ferry landings at Joint Base Pearl Harbor. (Plan details explain the traffic flow advantages.)
Not only would large numbers of JBPHH workers get to their jobs in 5-10 ten stress free minutes, but it would also work for Tripler, Fort Shafter and Camp Smith commuters.
Traffic flow on H-1 would increase tremendously and at a fraction of the now likely cost of rail at $5-700 Million a mile, or around $12-16 Billion and take 10-15 years.
Just imagine "Aloha Transit Center" - there would be a lot of supportive press for that as well as State ledge support and the Gov would support it. Middle Street is a boring place to get away from while Aloha Transit Center would be a destination that used day and night and weekends. It could attract a lot of private development interest.
Aloha Stadium makes the most sense as the freeway and highway options are far better from there than Middle Street. The BRT bus ramps would work better there and allow far better connectivity with tour buses, cabs (uber, etc.) and Joint Base PH buses.
Middle Street will mean putting buses directly into the one of the worst H-1 merge points. Aloha Stadium would provide two freeway options as well as Pearl Harbor routes and H-2 Kailua-Kaneohe routes - all from one location. Pearl Harbor is a major job center and also a major tourism destination for tour buses. Aloha Transit Center would be the ideal TOD.
Aloha stadium has tons of parking and converting it as a transit center and TOD would far more practical with minimal traffic disruption. The old stadium is going away, and it could become a new mixed sports complex and outdoor concert venue. The State would willingly support that, and highway funds could be better used complete all the hookups.
Aloha Stadium is also at a higher elevation and less likely for tsunami, storm surge and near term SLR. The site will have an attractive future while Middle Street is a boring mid end industrial area.
Aloha Stadium is also at a higher elevation and less likely for tsunami, storm surge and near term SLR. The site will have an attractive future while Middle Street is a boring mid end industrial area.
The first 10 miles of rail guideway ends at Aloha Stadium. The practical and best option is to convert the rail guide way to a 2-lane HOV(2) Reversible Smart Electric vehicle - Busway from Kapolei to Aloha Stadium for less than $4 Billion already collected via GET. Express electric buses can CONTINUE on to downtown, Waikiki, or UH and beyond using the H-1 Freeway/airport viaduct/Nimitz HOV lanes. The two-lane reversible can be used for single passenger vehicles during non-peak hours.
The year 2030 downtown-bound commuter demand will be 15,000 commuters per hour ABOVE the existing highway capacity, according to the city’s Alternative Traffic Analysis. The reversible can carry up to 17,000 commuters per hour (200 smart electric express buses and 3800 smart electric vehicles per hour) versus 3,000 RAIL commuters per hour. The REVERSIBLE expressway will eliminate traffic gridlock at the H-1/H-2 merge. New buses are 80% federally funded and would cost the city about $200,000 per bus or $40 million for 200 new buses.
Most people today forget or don't know:
Before Rail killed it most West Oahu residents wanted a trans Pearl Harbor floating bridge or tunnel
Other really good much lower cost alternatives included car ferries like those used in Washington State that could cross Pearl Harbor in five minutes. This would have NOT affected Navy ship traffic.
However as usual, the top Hawaii politicians LIED about all of this because they wanted the MOST EXPENSIVE SCHEME POSSIBLE.
E. Alvey Wright said:
Rail Will Do Nothing for the Future of Hawaii
by E. Alvey Wright, Hawaii Reporter, 4/7/2008
A newspaper advertisement today by E. Alvey Wright opposing rail:
In an advertisement in today's Advertiser, apparently paid by himself, retired Rear Admiral and former Hawaii Department of Transportation Director E. Alvey Wright wrote the following open letter in large bold type taking up a full half-page:
"Who is managing the economy of Hawaii? The mainstay of our economy is the Visitor Industry.
"A transit project with a budget of $4,799,000,000 is starting. The fixed guideway will do essentially nothing for the Honolulu International Airport, nothing for Waikiki, nothing for visitors, nothing for the environment, and nothing for the future of Hawaii.
"Honolulu will be spending the people’s excise tax money, plus a share of internal revenue paid by all people of the USA, including Hawaii. In my opinion, the City should be spending that kind of money on maintaining and improving the City and County of Honolulu, and on turning Oahu green.
The State of Hawaii should be maintaining and rebuilding the University of Hawaii, along with making it the Stanford of the Pacific.
"Please recognize, in this regular session, before it is too late, that our visitor economy cannot afford a fixed guideway transit system."
Very respectfully, (signature) E. Alvey Wright
