After years of repairs, crews install final step on popular east Oahu trail

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - After three years and nearly 6,000 hours of work, the final step on the Koko Crater Stairs hike was installed on Saturday.

The Kokonut Koalition, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the stairs, has been working with the city to repair and improve safety at the popular east Oahu trail.

Volunteers have replaced hundreds of wooden ties (or planks) and poured countless buckets of gravel to restore the hike — all at a cost of about $230,000.

The project was funded by the city and through private donations.

“All that dirt from rainfall, from storm, the erosion just got so bad and that’s why ties were coming apart,” said Lena Haapala of the Kokonut Koalition.

“Our main focus is erosion control, and that’s why it won’t look exactly like the way it did before, but I think everyone will appreciate and enjoy what we’ve done.”

The Kokonut Koalition will make a final count of the steps and said it plans to add new step checkpoint markers in the future.

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