Hanauma Bay area neighbors applauded the news Friday that, owing to safety concerns arising since the nature preserve reopened Dec. 2, only visitors in vehicles would be allowed to enter from Kalanianaole Highway starting today, with no walk-ins admitted, according to a news release from the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation.

“We support new DPR director Laura Thielen’s response to concerns about pedestrians endangering themselves walking along Kalanianaole Highway, and traffic and parking congestion in neighborhoods,” said Lisa Bishop, president of Friends of Hanauma Bay, adding such safety concerns had existed long before the preserve was closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Up to 3,000 visitors a day were admitted to Hanauma Bay prior to Dec. 2, when the preserve reopened with a new daily cap of 720 visitors and hourly admission quotas, motivating many who were turned away to park in adjacent areas and wait before walking or driving back to try again.

In December, residents of Nawiliwili Street and Upper Poipu Drive, which branch off Kalanianaole Highway between Lunalilo Home Road and the entrance to the bay, complained to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser of being inundated by Ha-nauma Bay pedestrian and vehicular traffic since the reopening.

“We have heard the concerns from the neighboring community and visitors to the nature preserve re- garding some of the problems with visitors parking in the residential areas, walking along the busy Kalanianaole Highway, and gathering near the Hanauma Bay entrance,” DPR Director- Designate Thielen said in the news release, noting that the reopening was a pilot program, and development of an online reservation system was underway.

“We hope these adjustments to the pilot reopening help to alleviate these concerns as we pursue an online reservation system and improve our management of this magnificent natural resource,” Thielen said, adding that DPR could make further adjustments to entry procedures if additional issues arise.

The online reservation system is being developed by DPR in collaboration with the Honolulu Department of Information Technology, and should be implemented this quarter, the release said.

Meanwhile, starting today, visitors arriving at the preserve entrance off Kalanianaole Highway will be directed to drive into the parking area and receive tickets designating the order in which they entered and providing a predetermined educational video showtime.

They will then be able to either wait in the parking lot and upper area of the preserve or leave temporarily and be ensured entry so long as they return with their ticket 15 minutes before their designated time.

Attendance at the presentation in the preserve’s theater is required before continuing down to the beach and its famed waters for snorkeling.

Within the preserve all Honolulu face mask, physical distancing and gathering restrictions remain in effect, DPR’s release stated, along with the daily capacity limit of 720 people and the rule allowing no commercial activity, including entry of taxis or tour buses and vans, allowed within Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve.

While city buses are currently not admitted, “we are discussing whether the bus route into Hanauma Bay can be restored or whether we can accommodate visitors arriving via the bus off of Kalanianaole Highway,” DPR spokesman Nathan Serota said, adding that Handi-Vans are permitted entry.

In addition to private cars and trucks, bicycles, motorcycles and motorized scooters can enter, “but not skateboards or manual scooters,” he said.

Bishop, who lives on Lower Poipu Drive, said many residents have recommended an online reservation system and welcomed the staggering of entries with reserved theater times in the interim, which would hopefully put an end to “the people parking and hiking up from Halona Blowhole and from Nawiliwili Street in the other direction, herding their young kids next to the highway where there’s no sidewalk, only gravel.”

She added that she didn’t know whether the vehicles- only rule would work, “but it’s worth a try and I applaud (Thielen) for trying.”

“It should be a huge improvement. If Hanauma Bay allows parking for cars with a reservation system, there would be no need or advantage to park in the neighborhood,” said a longtime resident of Nawiliwili Street who asked not to be identified.

“And maybe if people have to come back and know they can drive in, they will use the waiting time to visit the neighborhood shopping centers, which might really help the local merchants,” he said.

Serota said DPR would look at how the new rules, and the reopening itself, “impact the operations, conservation, and enjoyment of Hanauma Bay.”

The Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve is open to the public from 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, with last entry at 2 p.m.

Those needing special accommodations due to a disability are asked to call DPR at 768-3003 on weekdays from 7:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. or email parks@honolulu.gov.