A committee considering the fate of an abandoned tramway along the 1,208-foot summit of Koko Crater is expected to finalize its recommendations by the end of next month.

The final disposition then will be up to city parks director Lester Chang, who said this week he is committed to considering the committee's recommendations, but will also weigh resources and liability concerns.

"It's a tremendous challenge for them to come up with something that will work on all fronts," Chang said this week. "I can't say what's going to happen, because as soon as they come up with recommendations, we'll see what can and can't be done."

Six months after the city closed, then re-opened, the popular hike, the community is still waiting for the final word on what will become of the tramway as hundreds of people continue to scale the summit each week.

The city posted "Keep Out" signs at the entrance to the hike in February, citing danger from the nearby Koko Head Shooting Complex. That afternoon, residents rallied at the base of the tracks, prompting the city to re-open the route the same day.

The 13-person committee of community members and city officials has been mulling the future of the wooden tracks since May. Likely suggestions include posting signs along the tramway advising hikers that the route is not a sanctioned trail, or installing signs at the shooting complex to remind users that people are hiking close by.

Committee members might also suggest that the city partner with other groups, for example hiking clubs or the military, to maintain the tramway and bunkers at the summit. Several organizations, including the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, have come forward since February offering to help.

"I'm confident (the Parks Department will) ... go along with the recommendations. There's no reason not to," said Dick Cowan, a committee member who hikes the tramway every morning before work.

"The biggest concern that started all of this was that there was no discussion and the trail was closed, end of story," he said. "And now that people have looked at it ... and put their heads together about how to fix this thing, I think we've come up with good solutions."

TRAIL MIGHT CLOSE

Some are asking for a solid guarantee from the city that the recommendations will be taken seriously and the trail will remain open.

The lack of assurances has been troubling, said David Tanabe, who serves on the committee and the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board.

"Once we've done our job is there any assurance that ... (the city) will develop a timeline? We just don't know," he said.

The city, neighborhood board members and hikers agree that safety remains a concern, especially as speculation about the tramway's situation has fueled its popularity as a hike destination.

The city says stray bullets from the shooting range, located between Koko Crater and Hanauma Bay, are a potential danger. Many of the World War II-era rail ties are also deteriorating and no one group is maintaining weed-control along the route.

Around 10 a.m. Friday, about a dozen people could be seen walking up and down the tramway as loud pops from the shooting range echoed in the background.

The noise "doesn't even phase us," said Waipahu resident Shannon Yano, 26, who was hiking with friend Shanna Nakamura, 21, on Friday.

Nakamura said she didn't consider the shooting range to be the danger, adding, "Some of the train tracks are a little broken."

POPULAR HIKE

Money for trail upkeep also remains a question.

Chang said the city isn't considering a $750,000 zip line cable ride attraction proposed in June by California-based Alt-E Ventures.

The company's owner had suggested that the ride could generate enough revenue to offset site maintenance costs.

"To put this in front of everything else would be very distracting and would be unfair to the group I asked to work on this," he said.

If the city were to consider a zip line in the park, it would have to undergo a public bidding process, he added.

For now, the tramway remains open to hikers and exercisers, who climb to the summit — sometimes by the hundreds — each day.

Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board chairman Greg Knudsen said the board will continue to be involved, regardless of what happens.

"If the outcome is such that people can still hike to the summit and at the same time we have some steps to improve the safety of the pathway, then that's all good," he said.

"If somehow the lawyers slap a 'no trespassing' sign up and they close it, then of course the battle will continue."