An alternative rail plan advanced by Kamehameha Schools could save money in the short-term but would create safety, traffic and other problems, according to the city.

Hawai'i's largest private landowner recently commissioned a study that estimated the commuter rail project's $5.3 billion price tag could be cut by $1.7 billion by building about half of the planned 20-mile elevated train line at ground level.

A response to that report released yesterday by city Managing Director Kirk Caldwell called the Kamehameha Schools report biased and designed to support a predetermined outcome.

The Kamehameha Schools study also overstates the cost savings of ground-level rail while underestimating its traffic impacts, according to the city.

The city also said there is no need for a public hearing to discuss the Kamehameha Schools study.

City Council member Charles Djou said last week that the council should consider holding a public hearing, but Caldwell said in a letter to Djou on Monday that a public hearing would distract from efforts to move ahead with the project as planned.

"Hearings on the KS-commissioned report will not cover new ground," Caldwell wrote. "The arguments in the KS-commissioned report rehash issues that have been discussed in public forums and in Honolulu City Council hearings."

The Kamehameha Schools report was conducted by Phil Craig, a New Jersey railway system designer and transportation consultant. His study proposes building the train system at ground level from East Kapolei to Waipahu and from Middle Street to Ala Moana Center. Only the segment from Waipahu to Middle Street, or about 10 out of a total 20 miles, would be built on an elevated guideway.

A reduction in the cost of the rail project could help the city deal with less-than-anticipated tax collections needed to pay the city's $4 billion share of the project. However, the city eliminated the ground-level transit option long ago on concerns that it would interfere with road traffic, operate at slower speeds, generate lower ridership and require the acquisition of more right of way.

Craig argued that new light rail technologies along with an alternative route, traffic signal priority techniques and a widening of certain surface streets could overcome those concerns.

The city's response to the Kamehameha Schools report countered that an all-elevated train would be safer and have a greater maximum passenger capacity than a ground-level, or at-grade, train. An at-grade train also would create greater traffic problems and increase commuting times, according to the city.

THE VIEW AND COST

Supporters of the current transit plan contend that the elevated track will not disrupt views or change the aesthetics in already congested urban Honolulu. In addition, elevating the train is also cheaper than building a network of underground tunnels or running the tracks at ground level, where more land may need to be acquired, proponents say. Elevating the train also should reduce commuting times and as a result, potentially increase ridership.

However, Kamehameha Schools and the American Institute of Architects have raised concerns about the visual impact the approximately 30-foot-wide, 50-foot-high elevated track system and its elevated stations will have on Honolulu's scenery. Kamehameha Schools is also concerned about the effect on its land values and rental income.

Kamehameha Schools owns about 229 acres with 1,000 lessees and sublessees near the rail route. Its holdings include the sites where at least four proposed train stations would be located. That makes Kamehameha Schools one of the biggest private landowners that could be financially affected by rail.

Kamehameha Schools and others, including some environmental groups, have expressed concerns that options such as an at-grade train system were not fully analyzed during the city's analysis of alternatives. In addition, the drawbacks of an elevated train weren't fully addressed in a recent draft environmental impact study, according to Kamehameha Schools.

The city denies such allegations.

Kamehameha Schools "had ample opportunity to express their concerns about an elevated system during the (alternatives analysis) yet did not voice its opinion," according to the city's written response released yesterday. "The report by Mr. Craig is a late entry into the discussion that raises points that have already been thoroughly assessed over the course of the project to date."

Whether the planned 20-mile train from East Kapolei to Ala Moana runs on the ground or on an elevated guideway could depend on how concerns about an entirely elevated train affect the outcome of an ongoing environmental impact review.

ALTERING TIMELINE

Any significant change in the route or train technology could require the city to prepare what's called a supplemental environmental impact statement, which would disrupt a timeline that calls for construction to begin in December. Despite those delays, a combination elevated and at-grade train could be operational in June 2017, according to Craig. The city's planned East Kapolei to Ala Moana train would open for full operations by 2019.

Djou yesterday reiterated his desire for a council hearing of the alternative proposed by Kamehameha Schools.

"If the city is so confident in an all-elevated system, then why not have a public discussion on it and settle the issue once and for all," he said. "Only if you fear that you might not be 100 percent correct would you not want to have a public hearing."