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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
107 |
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TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAUS TO STUDY THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SUBMERSIBLE VEHICULAR TUNNEL FROM EWA TO DOWNTOWN HONOLULU.
WHEREAS, traffic congestion from the Ewa plains communities and points farther west to and from town is becoming horrendous with the numerous housing developments in Ewa and Kapolei and will only get worse with the continued development in those areas; and
WHEREAS, traffic commuting times are seriously deteriorating the quality of life of residents in west Oahu who must commute to work and school in the main urban core of Honolulu; and
WHEREAS, one solution that has been considered in the past is development of a vehicular submersible tunnel beneath Pearl Harbor; and
WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 162, H.D. 1, Regular Session of 1992, requested that the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization (OMPO) conduct a study on the feasibility of constructing a vehicular submersible tunnel under Pearl Harbor, with an Ewa portal on federal property at Iroquois Point and a Diamond Head portal on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base; and
WHEREAS, the United States Department of the Navy objected to the proposal because of security, general safety, limited real estate, and operational reasons; and
WHEREAS, alternatively, a similar vehicular submersible tunnel could be developed with an Ewa portal on non-federal public lands in the Ewa Beach area, running parallel to the shoreline in Ewa Beach, crossing under the Pearl Harbor channel, running parallel to the Honolulu International Airport reef runway, and emerging at a Diamond Head portal in the vicinity of the Airport Viaduct and Nimitz Highway interchange (the "additional proposed route"); and
WHEREAS, this additional proposed route should not impact any federal lands or Department of the Navy operations, with the only possible impact being crossing under the Pearl Harbor channel; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to study the feasibility of developing a submersible vehicular tunnel from Ewa to downtown Honolulu including studying OMPO's January 1993 report relating to the Pearl Harbor Tunnel using the additional proposed route; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in conducting this study, the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to address but not be limited to the following matters:
(1) A definitive description of the additional proposed route;
(2) An alternative route or routes to the additional proposed route, and reasons for choosing the alternative route or routes;
(3) Updated cost estimates for planning, designing, and constructing the vehicular submersible tunnel using the additional proposed route or an alternative route or routes;
(4) An estimated time-line for the planning, designing, and construction of a vehicular submersible tunnel using the additional proposed route or alternative route or routes;
(5) Estimating the vehicular submersible tunnel's travel time impact; and
(6) The comments and recommendations from the Department of the Navy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the acting director of the Legislative Reference Bureau and the Commander of Naval Base Pearl Harbor, Department of the Navy.
Report Title:
Legislative Reference Bureau; Ewa Tunnel Study