A letter of concern from the President of the Outdoor Circle in this week's The Honolulu Advertiser.
"From the day the city announced its plan for the Honolulu transit system The Outdoor Circle has been pressured by all sides to take a position. But to avoid a knee-jerk reaction, we have dutifully participated in the process in just about every way possible.
"In the end we have concluded that in its nearly 100-year history, we have seen no other proposal that holds the potential to degrade the landscape and change the character of our communities as greatly as this project. While its ability to ease O'ahu traffic is debatable, its negative impact on the visual environment cannot be denied.
"The Outdoor Circle believes the city has substantially downplayed the visual impacts the project will have on our communities and our quality of life. Nor does its draft environmental impact statement offer acceptable mitigation for the harm this project will inflict.
"We believe the final environmental impact statement must acknowledge the mountain of negative impacts this project will create and present effective mitigation plans. If this is not done the city should abandon the proposed above-ground system and replace it with an alternative that will not be as destructive and divisive as the current proposal."
Betsy Connors, President, The Outdoor Circle
As HonoluluTraffic.com has said from the beginning of this project at the end of 2004, one of the biggest problems with rail transit is the visual and noise blight that would be the result of building an elevated rail line along the waterfront and through town.
Virtually all of the environmentally concerned organizations in Hawaii have take positions in opposition to an elevated line. See Part II of our Draft EIS comments at http://www.honolulutraffic.com
