Honolulu Rail Archaeological Work Almost Done

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They’re two months ahead of schedule. 

Inside Honolulu reports:

It looks like the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is ahead of schedule in its search for Native Hawaiian burials and other cultural resources along the future rail line.

Instead of taking until March or April to complete this work, HART now hopes to have the inventories wrapped up by early December. This means there could be less money spent on construction delays.

An August ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court forced HART to halt construction on the $5.26 billion project until it completed all of the archaeological work. HART will then have to prepare a new report that will then be submitted to the State Historic Preservation Division for approval.

All told, officials said this could cause construction to be delayed between nine and 12 months, with each month of delay estimated to cost $7 million to $10 million.

But with the latest news on the archaeological surveys, it’s believed the delay will be closer to nine months.

HART is hosting a community forum on Native Hawaiian burials and iwi kupuna. You can find more information here.

—Nick Grube

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