The next problem I want to talk about is the environment, health, and aesthetic issue of the rail system. I was disturbed and concern when I found out that HART had not conducted an archaeological review of the entire project when they begin construct along the undeveloped land west of Honolulu, which were sacred ancestral burials of the native Hawaiian.
This led to University of Hawaii law professor, Randy Roth, former Governor Ben Cayetano, Transportation Expert, Cliff Slater and the Honolulu Traffic Group suing FTA for not considering every reasonable alternative to the project in the environmental impact statement. In effect delayed the project and pushing back the projected time the project was suppose to be finish. Thus, making the people of Hawai’i pay higher excise tax longer.
RANDY ROTH, LAW PROFESSOR AT UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
BEN CAYETANO (LEFT) AND CLIFF SLATE (RIGHT)
The fact HART did not conducted an archaeological review of the entire project made me have doubt in the company and things they are doing with the project. A project of this magnitude should be controlled by someone who is reliable and get the job done the right way and not someone who does a half-fast job because when there is a lot of money at risk, people expect the project to be flawless and high quality.
Also HART said that the train will be electric power, but most of Oahu’s electrical power comes from the burning of petroleum products. In other words the train will use fossil fuel for power, so technically they are not helping the environment.
The few problems I have with rail is the risk of being vulnerable to a natural disaster. If a storm was to hit O’ahu the rail system could be incapable able to run and cost taxpayers millions of dollars to fix the rail.
Another risk with the rail is it is an easy target for an terrorist attack and a magnet for people to commit suicides. On top of that the rail station could be a hot spot for robberies and drug trafficking.
PICTURE OF THE CONSTRUCTION FOR RAIL
Disturbing The Peace!
According to HART the train will run from 4 a.m. to midnight.
The downside to that is the train will generate 79 decibels of noise from 50 feet away. Similar to the sound of a dishwasher or washing machine running all day long, but adding the sound of a screeching brake. This will negatively affect O’ahu residents and businesses who are located near the train because nobody likes to hear a noise like that everyday.
Beside the sound of the train the visual appearance of the raised rail system will not be visually appealing to the resident of O’ahu. Just imagine being able to see the beautiful ocean from the mountain side and then imagine just seeing a rail line blocking your perfect view of the ocean and no way of remove the rail line from your view. It’s not a pretty sight to see.
PICTURE BEFORE RAIL (LEFT) AND RENDERING PICTURE WITH RAIL (RIGHT)
MUST READ: Top 4 Arguments Against Honolulu Rail 