A proposal to eliminate parking on the makai side of the road through Ala Moana Regional Park and create a wide beachside “promenade” ran into plenty of opposition at a city meeting Monday night.

A couple hundred people came to the park’s McCoy Pavilion for a meeting about the park’s proposed master plan, many of them holding signs condemning the promenade proposal.

“It’s not family-friendly,” said Sharlene Chun-Lum of the proposal. “It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

Chun-Lum, a member of Malama Moana, which has gathered well over 1,000 signatures this week in paper and online petitions opposing the plan, said the proposal is designed for tourists, not for local people used to unloading on the makai side of Ala Moana Park Drive and setting up on the grass next to the beach.

She said the plan will affect how local people enjoy the park and turn it into more of a commercial venture.

“It’s a people’s park,” said Gary Lack, who held a “Road Safety Matters” sign and wore a “People’s Park” T-shirt. “If you make everyone cross the road to get to the beach, there are going to be even more accidents.”

The proposal is part a master plan by Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell that aims to make upgrades to one of Hawaii’s oldest beach parks.

With 4 million visitors each year, the 119-acre Ala Moana park, which includes Magic Island, receives more use than any other park in the state. With the proposed improvements, Caldwell hopes to extend the longevity of a park built in 1934 and fraying at the edges.

A proposed master plan — drafted following public forums held last year — includes replenishing the beach with new sand, repaving Ala Moana Park Drive and renovating McCoy Pavilion and the Banyan Courtyard.

Officials said community members and park users have expressed a preference for keeping the park’s character and avoiding modern motifs and added structures.

The plan also calls for widening pedestrian access over the drainage canal at Piikoi and Queen streets, improving the park road crossing to the canoe launch ramp near the Ala Wai Boat Harbor, expansion of promenades along Ala Moana Park Drive and the Ala Wai Boat Harbor, improving and hardening the pond edges, and incorporating a new multiuse facility into the Lawn Bowling area.

According to the plan, the makai parking spaces and neighboring lawn strip would be replaced by a wide sidewalk next to the beach, along with a few picnic areas.

City officials contend the current parking setup presents a hazard to those who attempt to cross Ala Moana Park Drive. Moving the parking to the mauka side, they said, will enable a better flow of traffic, increase the number of parking stalls by 100 and open up makai views.

But Gerald Fujita, who has been surfing at Ala Moana since 1978, said the city isn’t listening to the people. He said he and many others attended two previous meetings where speakers overwhelmingly rejected the elimination of makai parking.

“Why are we here having a third meeting on the same subject?” said Fujita, a father of three. “It’s a safety issue. If they do this it’s going to be even more dangerous.”

Caldwell later told the crowd, “Nothing is going to happen until we hear from the public.”

A draft environmental impact statement is expected to be completed by the end of summer. More information is available at the Department of Parks and Recreation website, parks.honolulu.gov.

In the meantime, immediate park improvements already have been implemented or are in the works, according to city officials. They include:

>> Upgrades to restrooms and outdoor showers.

>> Fixing the rocky areas of the beach.

>> Improving irrigation systems.

>> Improving or adding exercise facilities and playgrounds.

>> Completion of the island’s first designated sand volleyball courts.

>> Increasing park staff, including groundskeepers and park caretakers.

>> Enhancing security.