HONOLULU — The state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the City and County of Honolulu announced on Wednesday the closure of the entire Moanalua Section of the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve, also known as Middle Ridge, and the Moanalua Valley Neighborhood Park for the removal of the Haiku Stairs.
The Moanalua Valley park will be closed starting today for approximately 30 days for demolition, with the timeline subject to weather conditions and the public’s compliance with regulations.
Also known as the Stairway to Heaven, the city decided to remove the stairs in 2021. It was originally built by the U.S. military during World War II and has been officially closed to the public since 1987 due to legal liability and resident complaints about hikers.
During the past year, a group known as the Friends of Haiku Stairs filed two lawsuits opposing the removal of the stairs, aiming to preserve them for historical reasons.
The first lawsuit was unsuccessful, and while the second lawsuit is ongoing the city is being allowed to proceed with the removal of the stairs.
“As soon as all the signs are put up, we will be enforcing all the trespassing rules,” said Honolulu Police Department Captain Kurt Ng on Wednesday at a news conference at the Moanalua Valley park. “We will have zero tolerance, anybody entering the park will be cited.”
Ng said that since Sunday, the department has cited 13 people for trespassing after entering through Middle Ridge; since April, there have been at least 80 citations issued and an estimated 15 arrests.
“It has become increasingly clear that dozens of hikers have ignored the partial closure, which has resulted in dozens of citations being issued by officers from the Honolulu Police Department, and the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement. Having people on the trails or in the area during this demolition project is extremely unsafe, thus the full closure is necessary, to protect public safety and our natural resources,” DLNR Chair Dawn Chang said in a statement.
On April 10, the city’s Department of Design and Construction and project contractor Nakoa Companies Inc. began preparatory work on the removal project, which involves dismantling more than 600 stair modules. The project was expected to take at least six months.
The total contract amount for the work, including the base amount and contingencies, is $2.579 million, which will come from operating funds from two fiscal years: $969,326 from fiscal year 2023; and $1.6 million from fiscal year 2024.
The city announced in April that the Haiku Stairs area has restricted access to authorized personnel only due to it being a construction zone.
On May 9, DLNR announced the closure of the Middle Ridge area for 90 days or more to dismantle the stairs.
According to Hawaii Administrative Rules, the closure affects the section of the reserve bordered by the Kulanaahane Trail to the north, the Kamananui Valley Road and an unofficial trail known as Waolani to the south, and the Koolau summit ridgeline to the east.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi stated Wednesday that since April, “a lot of people have chosen to ignore” the warnings and announcements about the restricted access.
“Since people don’t necessarily want to abide by what we’re requesting and doing, it’s going to take us to this level of enforcement,” he said. “We’re really serious about this — this is about life and death.
“We have zero tolerance, which means precisely that . We’re gonna take this as aggressively as we can because we don’t want anybody to die blaming us for deconstructing the stairs because they were irresponsible.”
Austin Nakoa, president of the Nakoa Companies, mentioned that the company is currently in the process of removing modules, which is hazardous and unsafe.
Throughout the project, construction can only proceed if the public follows the rules and if the weather conditions are favorable.
“During flight operations, we need to maintain a sterile site, meaning no one can be in the operational area,” Nakoa said.
He emphasized that failure to comply could result in the “Federal Aviation Administration shutting down the operation.”
DLNR, the city, and Nakoa Companies decided that the best course of action is to close the entire forest reserve and neighborhood park.
“The removal of the Ha‘iku and Moanalua saddle stairs has raised significant safety, security, and well- being concerns within our community. It is imperative that everyone understands the potential dangers associated with this ongoing removal,” Nakoa said in a statement.
“During flight operations, the state and City and County of Honolulu enforce a strict no-tolerance policy against individuals being on the trail. Unauthorized presence not only endangers personal safety but also poses serious risks to ongoing flight operations, as several sections of the stairs are no longer secured to the mountain.”
