After years of planning, an effort to build a network of mixed-use trails in Hilo will soon take its first steps along the winding path to completion.
After years of planning, an effort to build a network of mixed-use trails in Hilo will soon take its first steps along the winding path to completion.
The Hilo Bayfront Trails project, spearheaded by a group of citizens working in partnership with the county and state, seeks to construct a multiuse trail system from the Wailuku River at Reed’s Island to Hilo Harbor’s cruise ship terminal, totaling about 6 miles, located on 700 acres of public land.
“In 1982 or ’83, I went to the University of Oregon … and there was a multiuse trail along the Willamette River. There was biking, jogging, walking along the green belt of the river. It was wonderful to ride, and I wondered ‘Why don’t we have something like this in Hilo?’” said Peter Kubota, president of the nonprofit Hilo Bayfront Trails Inc.
“I thought, ‘Hilo’s Bayfront, we have all this beautiful scenery, all this beautiful land. Our place could be so much more beautiful.’”
Kubota set the wheels in motion after returning to Hilo, and various members of the community got on board, giving rise to a partnership with the county’s Department of Research and Development. In 2009, after gathering input from community members, the county completed a master plan, setting forth the steps by which the trails system might come to fruition.
The plan identified a number of existing recreational sites along Hilo’s Bayfront, mauka and makai of Kamehameha Avenue, to be included within the system. Those sites fall within a multitude of different jurisdictions, according to Kubota, with some areas presenting more of a challenge than others if they are to be included in the trail network.
“Going along Kalanianaole to the harbor, that will be difficult,” he said. “There are driveways, rights of way, the state highway department. It probably won’t happen until the end of the project. There’s so much to work out.”
But, organizers say, if they can get a strong start in other areas, they think they’ll be able to build further public support for the project, thereby greasing the bureacratic wheels.
“That’s really what it’s about,” said Christine Makaweo, a member of Hilo Bayfront Trails’ Board of Directors. “Once people see it (the trail), they’ll want to see it expand.”
To that end, trail organizers are set to get a major boost from the state.
In 2012, Gov. Neil Abercrombie released funding for renovations at Wailoa River State Recreation Area. Plans are currently being finalized that would include an upgrade and expansion of the park’s currently existing trails.
“All together, we have earmarked $2 million for improvements to the park,” said Dean Takebayashi, Hawaii Island superintendent for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks.
Renovations would include work on the park’s three pavilions, the five smaller covered family pavilions dotting the property, and an expansion of the existing trail in the park that runs from the Wailoa Small Boat Harbor off of Manono Street to the small boat ramp near the Waiakea Villas.
Initially, the parks division planned on a simple repaving of the existing paths, which are narrow and overgrown, but after taking input from Hilo Bayfront Trails, the plans now call for a wider, 12-foot, multiuse pathway that could accommodate walkers, runners, bicyclists and more, Takebayashi said.
“Wailoa’s a very beautiful park to stroll through, and I think this will provide an easier environment for people to do that,” he said. “… It also would allow more people to enter the park, as opposed to right now, because, once it’s connected to the other trails, it would allow access from Kamehameha Avenue. Right now, people have to drive into the parking lots to access it. … And as far as the work on the pavilions, it will help create a better experience for people who use the park.”
Takebayashia said the project is still in the final planning stages, but he expects renovations could begin in the latter half of 2015.
“We still have to finalize the plans and put the project out to bid before we know how long it will take,” he said.
Meanwhile, members of the Hilo Bayfront Trails nonprofit organization say they will be working on collecting funding and building interest in their dream for a more connected — and more beautified — Hilo Town.
“This will be something that everyone can use,” Kubota said. “Mothers walking with strollers, grandchildren learning to ride their bikes. It will be a beautiful resource.”
For more information, and to see a copy of the master plan, visit www.hawaiicountycdp.info/hilo/bayfront-trails. Or email hilobayfronttrails@gmail.com.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.