Based on years of discussion and public input, the four areas would have distinct themes linked to different areas along the path of the trans-Ko'olau route, he said.

Federal highway money was set aside almost 18 years ago to be used after the freeway construction damaged or destroyed a number of significant cultural areas.

The agency's mission is to make sure the areas are recognized and respected, Akana said.

To that end, the group put together a draft plan that identified four areas to be preserved and developed, he said.

• North Halawa Valley, where a healing and learning center would be developed to help preserve traditional cultural practices.

• Ha'iku Valley, where a former Coast Guard Omega navigation station would be transformed into a Hawaiian cultural preserve, possibly including a museum that would house many of the artifacts found during the H-3 construction.

• Luluku, where ancient agricultural terraces would be preserved and used to demonstrate planting techniques, water resource management and conservation practices.

• Kukui O Kane Heiau, the largest known heiau in the Ko'olaupoko District, could be used by traditional religious and modern-day cultural practitioners.

Group members have not yet developed a timetable for implementing the plan, but said they are anxious to get started.

"We're ready to go. We could have people visiting within six months once we get the approval from all the agencies involved," said Mahealani Cypher, part of a 12-member working group that developed the plan based on dozens of suggestions from interested people and groups on both side of the Ko'olaus. "We want people to come and participate in the cultural heritage of the area as soon as possible."

The freeway, built at a cost of more than $100 million per mile, caused decades of anger, fighting and legal confrontations before it was constructed, including clashes that forced the road to be realigned several times to avoid historic sites.

Even so, the route chosen destroyed or damaged many historic areas, opponents said.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, several other state agencies and the Federal Highway Administration all agreed in 1987 to help mitigate the adverse impacts of construction of the freeway, which opened to traffic in December 1997.

"It would have been better if they had done all this before the highway was built, but at least we're doing something now," Cypher said.

All the agencies will have to approve the plan before an implementation program can begin, Akana said.