MAKAPU'U — The state is nearly finished with $5 million in Ka Iwi Shoreline improvements.

By mid-June, visitors to the hiking and viewing spot atop a rugged East O'ahu cliffside will not have to dodge parked cars or telephone poles and will have a place to park in two lots off Kalaniana'ole Highway.

"It's pretty much what we asked for," said Dave Matthews, a member of Ka Iwi Action Council, a group formed to make sure the land around Alan Davis Beach and up to the lighthouse would be in the public domain and to keep the area an open space.

"We worked with the state to make sure there wasn't too much parking and to exclude buses. What's there is not too blatant, it doesn't hit you in the face," Matthews said.

The state project includes a new access road from Kalaniana'ole Highway for the lookout and hiking trail, two parking areas, removal of utility poles and an accessible lookout area that meets Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The goal was to make the area safer by keeping parked cars off the side of the road and to improve the scenic lookout area at Makapu'u Point.

More landscaping, railings and signs are still to come, officials said. Spring rains delayed work on the project, which was supposed to be completed by May 31.

The Ka Iwi Scenic Shoreline is a 354-acre park, from Queen's Beach to Makapu'u Head.

"It's pretty extensive," said Jeff Mikulina, Sierra Club executive director. "We gave the project our blessing."

As of May 3, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which is overseeing the project, told lawmakers that the asphalt paving was completed and guardrails and landscaping still needed to be installed. There are a host of little jobs still left to do, state officials said.

"It's exciting to see it be completed," said Matthews, who along with others spent hundreds of hours working out a plan for the area. "I'm very proud of the effort. It's a prominent place and now people can really enjoy themselves there safely."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.