Gov. Linda Lingle announced yesterday her plan to work with mayors, legislators, construction industry executives and labor leaders to expedite nearly $2 billion of already-approved capital improvement projects in the next 18 months as part of an attempt to stimulate Hawai‘i’s economy and create jobs.
The plan’s 1,521 individual projects totaling $1,865,522,037 in state funds have already been appropriated and approved by the state’s Legislature, according to Chief of Media Relations Russell Pang, and the announcement will simply “accelerate” the process.
Pang said a cutoff for the comprehensive list, which can be found on the governor’s Web site, www.hawaii.gov/cip, required included projects to be ready for bid by September 2009 and ready for contract awarding by June 2010.
“By putting the projects online and updating the public on their status in a timely manner, we are keeping the pressure on ourselves to ensure the projects keep moving,” Lingle said in a press release. “The public will be able to pinpoint what stage the project is in, and if there are bottlenecks such as permit delays, they will know exactly who to contact and who to hold accountable.”
However, the announcement should not be seen as Lingle actually releasing the funds from the state’s coffers — Pang said projects in which bids have not yet been awarded are not ready for release, and that the standard process, including planning and permitting, still has to occur on a case-by-case basis.
The projects include a wide range of state departments, including: Accounting and General Services; Agriculture; Business, Economic Development and Tourism; Defense; Education; Hawaiian Home Lands; Human Services; Land and Natural Resources; Public Safety; Transportation and the University of Hawai‘i, according to the release, and span all six major islands.
More than half of the projects and funding will go to O‘ahu, which has 803 programs totaling just over $1 billion in projected construction costs. Hawai‘i County (327 projects, more than $400 million), Maui (217 projects, more than $250 million), and Kaua‘i (111 projects, more than $140 million) are also in line for considerable investment.
Nearly half of Kaua‘i’s funding total is expected to be used to widen a two-mile stretch of Kaumuali‘i Highway between Anonui Street and the Lihu‘e Mill Bridge.
According to information on the CIP Web site, that project alone is projected to cost just over $70 million.
The project is expected to go out to bid in June 2009, to be awarded in September 2009, and to begin construction in February 2010. The contract time is projected to be 825 days.
Only the second phase of widening of the Big Island’s Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway, at more than $77 million, is estimated to be more costly.
“These projects will help in getting our construction and building trade sectors moving,” Mayor Bernard Carvalho, who pledged support for the program at an afternoon press conference with Lingle and other county mayors, said in a release.
Beth Tokioka, executive assistant to Carvalho, said the mayor’s staff was continuing to look through the list to determine what assistance the county can provide to help speed up the process.
Additionally, Carvalho said in a press release that the county is compiling its own list of high-priority CIP projects for immediate and near-term implementation.
“Millions of dollars at the county level are already in the pipeline or are ready to be awarded,” he said.
“We are currently preparing for a bond float so that we can fund additional CIP projects. … Supporting our economy during these difficult times remains a top priority for my administration.”
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
