First property acquired for rail

Looks like the City and County of Honolulu is making progress on the rail project - they acquired their first of 199 pieces of property needed to make way for the rail line. The city expects to spend about $248 million in acquiring these parcels of land. But they have an obligation to pay for relocation costs of businesses that want to continue, and I wouldn't be surprised if they end up spending more than the projected amount.

Wayne Yoshioka, director of the city's Transportation Services Department, told KHON2 that he doesn't expect to encounter too many forced buyouts of property owners. I hope he is right about this because it is certainly an area that could cause possible delays for the rail project.

Another thing not mentioned is the anticipated timeline for these acquisitions. That's another concern of mine - how long is this going to take?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I think it is crucial that the city do its very best not to let history repeat itself  - and not to take an excessively long time completing this project.

Read more about the city's first acquisition here: City acquires first property to make way for rail