DENNIS ODA / MARCH 7
Companies that hope to build the last segment of the rail line had until Friday to submit their proposals. Support columns for the Honolulu rail project line Kamehameha Highway near Radford Drive as it approaches the Arizona Memorial Visitors Center and Aloha Stadium.
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The city has received submittals from companies interested in building the final segment of the 20-mile Honolulu rail project, which means the procurement process will advance to the next step.
The city last year invited potential bidders to submit their qualifications to contract for a public-private partnership, or P3 agreement, that involves building the last 4.1 miles of rail line through the city center, eight rail stations and the Pearl Highlands parking
garage and transit hub.
The deadline for those submittals of qualifications was Friday afternoon. City officials said there were responses to the solicitation, but state procurement law does not allow them to identify potential bidders or say how many responded.
“We are pleased that (the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation) and the city received submittals for our public-private partnership solicitation by today’s deadline,” said HART Executive Director and CEO Andrew Robbins. “Both HART and the city look forward to reviewing the submittals and continuing the joint procurement process.”
The construction portion of the P3 contract is expected to cost about
$1.4 billion, and the winning bidder for the P3 agreement also would earn billions of dollars more under a 30-year contract to maintain and
operate the rail line.
The city will evaluate the qualifications of the potential bidders and then select up to three to continue the process. On May 3 the city is scheduled to release the second phase of the solicitation, and the companies that advance will submit their pricing and technical details for building the city center segment of rail and maintaining the system.
Some city and state officials have been worried the ongoing federal criminal investigation into the rail project could cause some companies to refrain from bidding on the Honolulu project, which would limit competition.
The $9.2 billion Honolulu rail line is the subject of a federal investigation involving the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. HART has been served with three federal grand jury subpoenas seeking tens of thousands of documents, but it is unclear exactly what triggered the federal inquiry.
