Question: Is there a timeline or schedule as to when the rail construction will be finished in the Waipahu/ Pearl City area? I travel between Ewa and Pearl City during the course of my workday, and I’m at the screaming stage due to the construction, lane closures and traffic delays.
I hope it’s not going to be like this for the entire five-year timetable for rail completion.
Answer: It’ll be two years at least before the first half of the elevated rail system is completed.
Construction between East Kapolei and Aloha Stadium is scheduled to be completed in 2017, said Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.
"Once the contractor hands over the finished rail guideway, HART will test-run the train vehicles along that initial 10-mile section before opening for public use in 2018," he said.
The entire 20-mile rail system from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center is targeted to be operating in 2019.
You can receive weekly traffic updates for rail-related work in West Oahu/ Farrington Highway, Kamehameha Highway, the Honolulu Airport area and city center at honolulutransit.org.
Ishikawa said the public also can sign up for weekly lane closure updates via email.
For more information, call the rail project’s 24-hour hotline, 566-2299, or email info@HonoluluTransit.org.
Question: I went to CVS/Longs around 7 a.m. Sunday, March 22, to purchase one of their newly advertised sale items, Colgate toothpaste (five for $5), only to be disappointed when I could not find it. I returned Friday, March 27, to see if any had come in, but there was none. When I asked for a rain check, I was told by staff in charge of stocking toothpaste that they could not give me a rain check because it was not a standard item even though CVS advertises it.
I find this to be deceptive advertising by a national chain, and it appears to me to be in violation of our state laws.
Can you provide clarification on rain checks and what customers can expect when items are advertised?
Answer: You should have been given a rain check, CVS spokeswoman Stephanie Cunha said in an email from CVS Caremark headquarters in Rhode Island.
"It is Longs Drugs’ policy to offer rain checks for promotions on regularly carried merchandise if a substitute item is not available," she said. "We have also taken steps to ensure that our policy is well communicated to all of our store colleagues."
She apologized for your inconvenience and said the company would like to offer you a coupon good for the equivalent of the promotional item.
In general, the state does not have guidelines specifically dealing with rain checks.
However, its rules regarding "unfair or deceptive practices in advertising" include whether there is adequate stock on hand for an advertised product.
"We would be extremely concerned if a store advertised products knowing that it did not have them available nor expect to have them available for an advertised sale," said Stephen Levins, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection.
In the future, if you believe an ad is misleading, you can file a complaint with OCP. Call 587-3222 or go to cca.hawaii.gov/ocp.
Mahalo
To a gentleman who saved me from an accident at the Hawaii Kai Towne Center parking area near Costco. I had entered a one-way, two-lane area by mistake, thinking one lane was for exiting. When he saw what was happening, he immediately drove his car to block traffic. I wasn’t able to back out, so he did it for me. A lovely lady made sure I got back to the car safely.
I was so nervous, I forgot to get their names. Many cars were blocked but the drivers all waited patiently. Thank you all so much for your help and patience. Hawaii Kai has grown so much that the parking areas are a maze. — Soon-to-Retire Senior Driver
———
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
