State officials are pondering what to do with Cyrus Belt's public memorial, which has attracted hundreds of people and piles of gifts in an outpouring of grief for the 23-month-old who was thrown from an H-1 pedestrian overpass Thursday.

"I can't recall the last time we had a roadside memorial of this magnitude," said Scott Ishikawa, Department of Transportation spokesman.

It has grown so large and attracts so many visitors and passers-by that it has become a safety issue.

On Saturday afternoon, a DOT crew moved the gifts from the middle of the Miller Street overpass to the mauka entrance after hearing that stuffed animals and flowers had fallen onto the freeway.

Yesterday morning, workers arrived again to rearrange some items because they were blocking the entrance to the overpass.

TRAFFIC SLOWS DOWN

Officials worry that the memorial could distract drivers. Traffic has been slowing under and around the overpass as people look at the site, Ishikawa said.

With roadside memorials, DOT usually waits 30 days before asking the victim's family to take down banners or gifts.

But since most of the items have come from people who did not know the toddler personally, Ishikawa said, "I'm not sure what we're going to do."

The department will discuss what to do with the toys this week, and possibly consider giving them to charity.

By yesterday afternoon, several hundred toys and stuffed animals were piled high against the walls of the entrance to the overpass, which was also decorated with several large banners, one with a picture of the toddler.

Lei covered railings, and bouquets and large flower arrangements were placed among the toys. Dozens of mylar balloons, many with personal notes, shook in the afternoon breeze.

A steady stream of people, most of them taking advantage of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, visited the memorial yesterday.

"It's nice to see that people who don't know him can give respect," said Renee Bongo, 21, who came from Wai'anae with her 8-month-old daughter, Chloe.

"People from all over the island come together, grieve together and show respect for him and his family," she said.

PERSONAL NOTES LEFT

"I think it's just wonderful that people think so much about him," said New York resident Velma Giese, 80, who came to walk around the memorial. "It's overwhelming. It's really amazing."

Giese was visiting her daughter, Marcia, 56, who lives nearby on Captain Cook Avenue and also came yesterday.

Marcia Giese said traffic along Magellan Avenue, which runs next to the overpass, "is the slowest I've seen" because drivers slow down to look at the site.

Shanena Lino, 27, arrived from Kapolei yesterday with eight members of her family carrying balloons, flowers and dolls for the toddler they had never met.

"We live in Hawai'i," Lino said. "Everybody comes together to show support no matter who it is. Strangers coming together. To me, that's aloha."

People of all ages also left personal messages.

Among the stuffed animals and flowers was a note that looked as if it had been written by someone not much older than Cyrus.

It said: "To a speshole boy in heven that will liv happaly ever after."