Critically important utility work in the city center segment of the Honolulu rail line is still running behind schedule, and the rail authority is preparing to hire a second contractor to ensure the work is finished on time and does not delay construction of the last portion of the 20-mile rail system.

The city hired contractor Nan Inc. in 2018 under a contract for up to $400 million to relocate the utilities along the last 4.1 miles of the rail line, and that work was supposed to be 30% finished by now, according to Glenn Nohara, a member of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board of directors.

But members of the board were told Thursday the utility work is actually only 7% complete, and time is short.

The city is now soliciting proposals for a public- private partnership, or P3 agreement, to complete the elevated rail line from Middle Street through the downtown area to Ala Moana Center. The goal is to have that P3 contractor complete that last segment of rail and eight stations in time for the planned December 2025 opening of the entire system.

The advance utility work along that route in the urban core is urgent because HART needs to move utilities such as sewer and water lines, power lines and other infrastructure out of the way so that the P3 contractor can move quickly into heavy construction of the rail line and stations.

Frank Kosich, director of engineering and construction for HART, said the rail authority is trying to shift from night work to both day and night construction for the utility work “because we’re not moving quick enough. We’ve got to increase our production.”

Before HART can implement that day-and-night schedule, it needs to win the approval of the city Department of Transportation Services for HART’s proposed traffic management plan along the route. Of particular concern is the Dillingham corridor, where HART plans to reduce the traffic flow to one lane in each direction with no left turns allowed in the intersections except for Alakawa Street, Kosich said.

When asked whether delays in the traffic management plan are mostly to blame for the delays in the utility work, Kosich said that he couldn’t pin down one cause. “It’s complex,” he said.

The traffic management plan is important to speed the work along, but finalizing the designs also took time. “We need to finalize the designs, get the approval and get the work going,” he said.

Kosich said he meets today with AECOM, the engineering company on the utility work, and “I need them to do better. It doesn’t mean they’re performing poorly — we’ve changed some things and given some guidance late — but, you know, we need them to step up a little bit more.”

Another issue has been obtaining prompt approvals from other government agencies, Kosich said. “In some cases we’re moving forward at risk as the city agencies are reviewing and approving the designs. … I wouldn’t say that’s a major show-stopper right now, but it’s something we need to keep an eye on.”

He later explained that moving forward “at risk” means the contractor is doing some work without the final city permits, which Kosich stressed is a common practice on construction projects.

Despite all of those concerns, HART Executive Director Andrew Robbins said he is confident the rail pathway will be ready for the soon-to-be hired P3 contractor by the dates that the city has promised it would be. Those access dates have been given to the bidders that are competing for the P3 contract, and their bids will assume those dates are accurate.

However, Robbins added getting the work moving has been frustrating, and “there’s no question that what we call the enabling work, which is what we call this utility relocation that we’ve taken on, has to progress faster.”

As part of the effort to speed the utility work along, Robbins said he is moving forward to solicit and hire a second contractor to handle some of the work that was supposed to be done by Nan Inc. Kosich said the new contractor will be put to work if Nan cannot meet the production requirements.

Robbins said some of the money earmarked for the Nan contract can be redirected to the new contractor, and he hopes that hiring a second construction company will not increase the overall cost of the utility work.

Robbins told the rail authority board of directors in May that the plan was to have Nan finish moving all utilities out of the way along the rail route for 4,000 feet from Ala Moana Center headed in the Ewa direction, and for another 4,000 feet from Middle Street headed in the Diamond Head direction, by mid-June of this year.

However, Kosich said Thursday the plan now is to turn over the first segment from Middle to Mokauea streets to the new P3 contractor by October 2021.

The original target date for awarding the P3 contract was Sept. 30, 2019, but that deadline has been delayed four times. Robbins has said the plan now is to award the contract in May.

Rail officials say they still believe all work on the 20-mile rail line will be finished in time to make the city’s projected opening date in December 2025, but the Federal Transit Administration has been skeptical that HART can meet that schedule.

The FTA is predicting the entire rail line and 21 stations won’t actually open until September 2026, and calculates there is only a 65% probability the city will even open the rail system by that date.