Mayor Mufi Hannemann said today that the city is making significant progress toward breaking ground and beginning rail construction after the Federal Aviation Administration has concurred with the Runway Protection Zone avoidance measure for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project.

Hannemann has an FAA letter stating the "rail project alignment is consistent with our standards for airport development."

"This milestone means there are no outstanding issues associated with the rail system serving the Honolulu International Airport or completing the rail transit Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS)," he said in a statement. "I thank the FAA, the FTA and the State Department of Transportation for their valuable technical advice and cooperation in reaching this solution."

The city said the RPZ avoidance will relocate a portion of the project's guideway several hundred feet, from Aolele Street to Ualena Street, beginning approximately 2,000 feet west of Lagoon Drive, and will relocate the Lagoon Drive rail station to the corner of Ualena Street and Lagoon Drive. The alignment through the airport area will still be primarily along Aolele Street.

The city plans to begin construction of that segment of the project in 2014.