Editorial: City should lead Koko Crater fixes

The views are so spectacular that they draw hundreds of adventurers on a daily basis, residents and visitors alike, to gut their way through a fairly grueling hike up what’s popularly called Koko Crater Stairs to the 1,200-foot summit.

And in this era of adventure tourism that’s fueled by social media, that attraction brings the type of traffic that, gradually but relentlessly, wears things out.

The result is that the former tramway that defines the trail is in such severe disrepair that the city should close it temporarily while repairs are made — repairs that should be underwritten at least in part by the participation of the nonprofit and private sectors.

The steps up to the crater rim are vestiges of an old tramway rail facility that the military used to haul cargo and supplies to the top, where the Army had “pillbox” lookout bunkers during World War II. Like other war-era vestiges, such as the Lanikai pillbox trail and the Haiku Stairs, Koko Crater has fascinated hiking enthusiasts, often to the dismay of the neighboring residents.

Formerly these were places little known beyond local circles, but Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms have changed all that. Word-of-mouth publicity, amplified by technology, has been all the marketing required to bring out the crowds.

The result is the increasing wear-and-tear outpacing any city efforts to maintain it. Still, it’s distressing that the deterioration would have progressed so far without a serious effort at rehabilitating the tramway.

Even without the recent rains, many sections of the cross-ties and rail have loosened or broken, leaving gaps that make the footing quite unstable. When slick with rain and mud, it becomes even worse.

Financing the repairs would be complicated. Visitors to Koko Head Regional Park — the general public — have access to the trail.

Fees are charged in select public locations such as Hanauma Bay and the Nuuanu Pali State Wayside. But the fact that Koko Head Regional Park is used for many other conventional recreational purposes would make it impractical to impose a similar fee here.

If the city Department of Parks and Recreation seeks some general public buy-in with the mission of trail upkeep, it might be best to post a donations box from which proceeds could be retrieved regularly.

But more significant funding contributions should be sought through grants and other sources, especially from entities that use the trail routinely. Some have noted military groups frequently use the trail, which affords a rigorous workout, as a training venue. There’s no reason why financial participation in trail restoration couldn’t be an appropriate community goodwill campaign by the military.

Advocates such as the Kokonut Koalition, a hiking group, are rightly pressing for a comprehensive repair and maintenance plan. The city has no funds budgeted for that — its only official intervention was removing a beehive four years ago.

Volunteers have tried to compensate by hauling concrete blocks to the site to counter the erosion problem. It’s understandable why city parks crews responded by removing those, as they could introduce their own hazards for hikers.

But what the city must do is take charge of the situation. Officials should help to coordinate a public- private effort to raise the money for repairs and quickly develop a rational plan for maintenance.

The fact that the Koko Crater trail is popular is obvious, with up to 1,000 hikers in a single day. And it’s risky: Fire rescuers have stepped in more than 30 times there in the past two years.

Parks Director Michele Nekota said the city doesn’t want to give the public a “false sense of security” by leaving stop-gap community improvement in place. She’s right. Instead, the city should plan for lasting fixes, giving the public the real security it is owed.