Ala Pono, An Ala Wai Crossing Alternatives Analysis

PBR HAWAII provided planning and community engagement services to Nelson\Nygaard transportation consultants on a City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services (DTS) project to identify, develop, and evaluate alternatives for additional access across the Ala Wai Canal. The Alternatives Analysis (conducted by Nelson\Nygaard) assessed options for new transportation infrastructure, including a pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the Ala Wai Canal that will provide an additional connection between the Waikīkī, Ala Moana, and McCully/Mō‘ili‘ili neighborhoods.

PBR HAWAII’s primary tasks included community engagement and preliminary environmental documentation to support the analysis process and set a foundation for future phases of the design development. Community engagement tasks included: 1) supporting DTS with briefings to stakeholders such as community groups, funding agencies, educational institutions and elected officials; 2) organizing and staffing informational “pop-ups” for the general public; 3) organizing and facilitating public meetings to involve the public in consideration of alternatives; and 4) preparing supporting materials such as fact sheets, web content, social media posts, electronic presentations, and posters. As part of the community engagement work, unique community engagement partnerships were formed. PBR HAWAII staff presented the Ala Pono project and conducted a site visit with Jefferson Elementary students as part of their STEM curriculum. PBR HAWAII staff also used the alternatives analysis as a vehicle for a site planning class at UH Mānoa. The final public meeting to share outcomes of the analysis included boards prepared by the elementary students, with the aspiring engineers on hand to share their work with the public.

Preliminary environmental documentation tasks include conducting pre-assessment consultation consistent with Chapter 343, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, development of a report of potential impacts and mitigation measures for the alternatives, and identification of local, state, and federal permits required for regulatory clearance.