HONOLULU – The Honolulu rail project is entering a contentious phase as construction of the Skyline rail guideway bypasses Kalihi for now and heads straight toward downtown and Kakaako. The move is meant to speed up progress on the final leg of the rail line, but it’s already creating friction with some major landowners.

While utility relocation work in Kalihi continues and is not expected to be completed until sometime next year, contractor Tutor Perini has opted to move forward elsewhere. The company plans to begin drilling for rail column foundations this August at the intersection of Dillingham Boulevard and Kaaahi Street, where the future Iwilei station will be located.

From that point, the rail line stretches just over a mile to its terminus in Kakaako, where the City Center station will be constructed on part of the Servco Toyota repair yard along Halekauwila Street.

Servco Pacific Inc., a prominent local company, says the plan is putting its business in a difficult position. Speaking before the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) board on Friday, Servco executive Peter Fukunaga expressed frustration over the tight timeline.

“I want to reiterate that because it is so painful for us and for the business,” he said. “You know seven months to get permitting, move equipment, retrain staff, potentially find a new location and figure this all out without disrupting, again, tens of thousands of customers, that’s the only spot down there that we got.”

HART is asking for nearly half an acre of Servco’s property by January, which Fukunaga said leaves little time to prepare. Servco has long-term plans to redevelop the site into a high-rise that includes the repair facility on the ground floor, a vision now complicated by the rail’s accelerated timeline.

HART CEO Lori Kahikina defended the agency’s request, pointing out that Servco has known for years that the property would be affected. However, she acknowledged the scope has changed recently.

“They got an official notification back in October,” Kahikina said. “But their schedule (for redevelopment) is much more later than ours. That guideway is coming down now and that station too, so we cannot wait for that development.”

Because of the pressing construction schedule, HART may resort to eminent domain if no agreement is reached.

Conflicts are not limited to Kakaako. In downtown Honolulu, tensions have also emerged at sites like Bishop Street and Ala Moana Boulevard. Owners of properties such as the Dillingham Transportation Building and Pacific Guardian Tower have expressed resistance to rail-related foot traffic crossing their spaces.

“They don’t want us,“ said Kahikina. “They actually want a wall or some kind of barrier built. There’s concerns about vandalism, homelessness. So that is unfortunate.”

She added that movable barriers might be installed when the rail isn’t operating to address the concerns of property owners. Kahikina voiced her disappointment in the property owners’ stance.

“This is the attitude that we’re getting from them,” she said. “So I hope people do not criticize HART later for not being better partners and integrating into Pacific Guardian. But they don’t want us.”

Her frustration prompted her to formally document the dispute in a letter sent to the Pacific Guardian Tower’s ownership, a copy of which was shared with HART’s board and city officials. An attorney for the property has since responded, stating the company is cooperating and waiting on further construction details from HART.

Kahikina also pointed out that HART has been criticized in the past for poor integration of stations at locations like UH West Oahu and Pearlridge Center—but she argued that unwilling property owners are often the reason.

Deputy project manager Matthew Scanlon echoed her sentiment, lamenting the missed opportunities for collaboration.

“It’s not always up to us,” Scanlon said. “It’s up to the property owners seeing that vision and working with us to integrate more fluidly into their existing operations or property.”

Despite the decision to leapfrog over Kalihi, the entire 20-mile Skyline rail system still isn’t expected to be fully delivered to the city until 2031. That gives HART some time to continue negotiating with landowners—and perhaps convince skeptics that the rail is an asset to the community rather than a burden.

Originally reported by Daryl Huff in Hawaii News Now.