JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Reid Shimabukuro, middle, president of the Sand Island Off-Highway Vehicle Association, has been instrumental in spearheading the stake of land before the Sand Island bridge to be dedicated for off-road vehicle use, including dirtbikes, ATVs and BMX bikes. Shimabukuro's family are all avid riders, including his daughter Ria, 7, right, and son Duke, 5.

Group wants dirt tracks at Sand Island

Reid Shimabukuro can picture enthusiasts riding their all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes, BMX bicycles and four-wheel-drive trucks -- legally and safely -- on a 30-acre strip of state land on Sand Island.

Shimabukuro, president of the Sand Island Off-Highway Vehicle Association, will ask the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to lease the land and allow members to build multiple dirt tracks for different off-road vehicles on the ocean side of Sand Island Access Road.

Though Shimabukuro doesn't ride himself, he's into the engine-revving and dirt-throwing sport for the sake of his 5-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, both of whom ride pint-sized dirt bikes. His wife, Shelley, owns a dirt bike and sometimes rides, while Shimabukuro said he likes to watch motocross racing.

"I think it's a great family sport," Shimabukuro said. "Parents are not going to let a kid ride by themselves."

Like other families who enjoy motorized fun outdoors, the Shimabukuro family has only one option for legal riding: at the weekend-only Kahuku Motocross Park. The park is large (440 acres) and spread out, not the best option for young riders like his children, he said.

The Sand Island group has explained its plans for the state land to the Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board, the Sand Island Businessman's Association, state Parks Division and the state Na Ala Hele Trails Program and all have said they support the idea, said Curt Cottrell, manager of the Na Ala Hele Trails Program.

Cottrell said his trails program is willing to direct Federal Highways Administration funds to assist with the dirt track development, if an environmental assessment and permits are paid for by the association. By law, one-third of the federal trail money should be used for motorized vehicle trails -- something the state has struggled to do, he said.

At Waiakea on the Big Island, the state assisted all-terrain riders there with setting up trails through a nonnative, timber management area, Cottrell said. Projects are in planning stages so that there would be at least one legal riding track on each major island, he said.

On Oahu, the Department of Land and Natural Resources has been concerned about illegal riders damaging native ecosystem at Kaena Point, in particular.

"Our goal is to eliminate illegal riding at Kaena Point, where it is not appropriate -- and to provide an alternative," Cottrell said. "Sand Island is a really great alternative near the urban center."

Two major complaints from neighbors of off-road tracks are noise and dust, Shimabukuro said. Neither should be a problem at Sand Island, he said, which is underneath an airport flight path and has no immediate neighbors to worry about dust. The land itself is far from pristine, some of it being built on former landfill, Shimabukuro said.

Riders would be prohibited from going onto the beach by a berm, alcohol will not be allowed, and the association plans to charge admission to cover costs and self-police users, Shimabukuro said.

"Our group is completely against drinking and riding. If guys think they can tailgate and pop open a beer, they can't have that," he said.

A number of people have offered to donate labor or materials to create separate dirt tracks for pedal-power BMX bicycles, youth motocross, adult motocross, all-terrain vehicles (quads), and a "technical" hill-climbing course for four-wheel-drive trucks.