HONOLULU – The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services (DTS) has posted the results of the public stakeholder meeting, referred to as charrettes, for the Ala Wai Pedestrian Bridge project that were held last November. The report on the results can be found here, and is available on the project website: https://www8.honolulu.gov/dts/ala-pono/.
In November 2024, DTS announced a series of community involvement opportunities seeking input and feedback on design options for the proposed bridge. The opportunities included two public meetings, which were held on November 20 and 23, 2024 at Ala Wai Elementary School. DTS presented 19 design configurations and received several additional design concepts from the public during the meeting. The report details how each of those 19 bridge design alternatives was rated.
Nearly 300 people participated in the meetings which were conducted in response to continued interest from the Waikīkī, Mōʻiliʻili, and McCully communities in order to further refine the community’s preferred bridge design.
The proposed Ala Pono bridge will be aligned with University Avenue on the Mōʻiliʻili side of the Ala Wai canal and Kalaimoku Street on the Waikīkī side. DTS has been advancing the Ala Wai Pedestrian Bridge project to promote more multimodal and people-focused infrastructure. Originally proposed as a vehicular bridge more than a half century ago, the project involves construction of a new 300-foot-long pedestrian and bicycle crossing over the Ala Wai Canal. This new bridge would allow connectivity between the many neighborhoods, businesses, parks, schools and recreational activities mauka of the canal with Waikīkī, providing safe, affordable transportation for tourists and locals alike. The bridge is expected to attract 25,000 trips per week once built.
In 2019, as part of the environmental review process development, an Alternatives Analysis looked at different bridge types and configurations and solicited public input on the preferred alternative. In 2021, the draft Environmental Assessment was released, and in 2023, the City was awarded a $25 million discretionary grant to offset the estimated $63 million cost of the bridge. Additional federal formula-based funds will bridge the federal share of the bridge’s cost to 80%. The remaining 20% local match will be provided by City funds. Construction is expected to last three years.
The project is led by DTS in partnership with the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Final design will only begin once environmental clearances are secured. The current schedule calls for environmental review to be completed later this year.
—PAU—