Haʻikū Stairs

It's unclear when the group accessed the illegal hike, but the video shows them on various portions of the trail and two of them throwing a metal barricade off the mountainside.

The Moanalua Valley Neighborhood Park is open to the public after being closed for over a month. The park closed because hikers used it to illegally access the Ha‘ikū Stairs, and paths connected to the “Middle Ridge” trail.

The City and County of Honolulu will have to halt further demolition of the Ha‘ikū Stairs until the court decides on pending litigation. The lawsuit was rejected by a judge earlier this year, but Friends of Ha‘ikū Stairs appealed that decision.

The Hawaiʻi Intermediate Court of Appeals will decide whether to grant a longer injunction for the demolition of Ha‘ikū Stairs. HPR's Ashley Mizuo explains.

State officials hoped a closure of the Middle Ridge trail would be enough to deter hikers from the trail, but dozens have been cited for entering illegally since demolition work started in April.

The Friends of Haʻikū Stairs argued in court last week that the removal would cause irreparable damage. A judge has denied the group's request, moving the demolition forward. The city said that workers are not expected to fly any of the stair modules off the mountain for at least a few days because of current weather conditions.

Honolulu officials have started the process of removing the Haʻikū Stairs from the Koʻolau Mountains. The popular illegal hike, also known as the "Stairway to Heaven," has about 4,000 stairs. Debate has surrounded the removal for decades, heightened by neighborhood complaints of trespassing and noise. HPR's Ashley Mizuo reports.

Community volunteer group Friends of Ha‘ikū Stairs filed a suit against the City and County of Honolulu earlier this week. The plaintiffs argue that the city's violating the state's environmental protection act.

The Honolulu City Council passed a combined $4.2 billion budget Wednesday for both operations and capital improvement projects. Hallmarks of the budgets include $1 million to increase Honolulu Police Department patrol staffing; over $50 million for affordable housing projects; and $1.3 million to remove Haʻikū Stairs.

The Honolulu City Council has passed a measure urging the city to dismantle the steps at the popular and closed hiking trail known as Stairway to Heaven.