The Honolulu rail authority is authorizing a contractor to design an extension of the Skyline system from Kakaʻako to Ala Moana, a rail segment that would cost another $1.6 billion to build.

The city does not yet have the money to build it, and the unanimous vote Friday by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board is a tangible step along a path that may lead to additional tax levies on city or state taxpayers for the extension.

The cost of the project has already ballooned to double its original budget to more than $10 billion, and state and local taxpayers have picked up most of that.

Rail received three financial bailouts — in 2015, 2017 and 2021 — as the cost of the project increased. Construction is running more than a decade behind schedule.

The Federal Transit Administration agreed to provide $1.55 billion to build the Skyline system from East Kapolei to Kakaʻako, but has not committed to help fund the rail line beyond Kakaʻako.

The vote on Friday authorized HART staff to exercise a $53.25 million option to have rail contractor Tutor Perini Corp. design the next rail segment from Kakaʻako to the Ala Moana Center.

Tutor Perini already has a $1.659 billion contract to built the rail line from Middle Street to Kakaʻako, and has begun construction on that segment. Tutor Perini would be paid an additional $53 million under the contract option to design more of the rail line.

The money for that design work is to come from extra revenue HART expects to have left over after construction of the rail segment to Kakaʻako is complete in 2030, said HART Project Director Vance Tsuda.

The city had planned to build the Skyline system to Ala Moana when it broke ground on rail in 2011, but was forced to eliminate two stations and shorten the line in 2022 to cut costs. HART has projected the ridership for the shortened line will be 30% less than had been projected for the full run to Ala Moana.

Tsuda said HART’s option to have Tutor Perini do the design work to Ala Moana expires in August 2027. That option was included in Tutor Perini’s contract because “as we all know, the later we wait the more expensive it gets with escalation and everything else,” he said.

That plan was praised by HART board member Anthony Aalto, who called it “a very significant step.”

“Well done. Well done, HART,” he said. “For us to actually start spending money to design for Skyline to go from Civic Center to Ala Moana is a really important step, and we need to pause a moment to recognize that.”

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has said publicly he also wants to extend the reach of rail to Ala Moana, and extend the Skyline system deeper into West Oʻahu.

Not everyone agrees.

Joe Kent, executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaiʻi, said in an interview the public should be allowed to vote before the city moves forward on construction of any extension of the rail line beyond Kakaʻako.

“It seems like a big waste of money,” he said of the design work for an additional rail segment. “This is spending money that we don’t have so we can spend more money that we don’t have.”

“We ran out of money a long time ago, but even more importantly it seems like they’re wanting to move forward without the public,” Kent said. “The public already got hoodwinked by the project, and now it looks like they just want to move forward.”

“My question is, have we learned our lesson from the past? This is one of the most expensive projects of its type in the world. They definitely should not be allowed to just go forward.”

He added: “When you’re in a hole, stop digging.”

HART board member Natalie Iwasa wondered how the FTA would react to the city spending money to design another segment of rail at a time when it has not yet finished the segment it is obligated to build to Kakaʻako.

HART CEO Lori Kahikina said HART staff cannot speak for the federal government, but noted HART has contingency funding built into its budget to cover unexpected costs that come up.

“I don’t think they gave us the go-ahead to go, but if it gets really close, they might get nervous and ask us to pause in what we’re doing,” Kahikina said.

HART staff said the state and county tax collections that provide most of the funding for HART are currently running about $80 million ahead of schedule, although economists have predicted Hawaiʻi is headed for a mild recession in the years ahead.

The HART board also voted Friday to name former state lawmaker and union executive Kika Bukoski as the new HART board chairman. Bukoski replaces Colleen Hanabusa, who resigned last month.