SUMMERHAVEN, Ariz. (KGUN) — On a quiet Tuesday, Summerhaven is easy to get around. Parking isn't a problem. But come the weekend, business owners and visitors say this mountain community looks completely different.
That's exactly what a new parking project up here was built to fix.
KGUN 9 has been following the $8.77 million project for months. It adds a paved lot with about 75 spaces, along with roughly 21 additional on-street spaces, bringing the total to nearly 100 new spots for visitors heading up the mountain. The project also includes two new public restrooms.
Even on a slow weekday, some of the mountain's youngest visitors were already enjoying what Summerhaven has to offer. Mollie, a young visitor, said she loves coming up to the river, the creek and Marshall Gulch.
But her parents know Summerhaven isn't always this empty.
Mount Lemmon Lodge owner John Osborne said the new lot solves more than just a parking problem. He pointed to last summer, when Pima County shut off public toilets on the mountain during severe water restrictions.
"This will add two big restrooms as well as all that parking," Osborne said. "It couldn't be more impactful."
Down the road at the Mount Lemmon General Store, owner Grey Carpenter has been waiting on this project since KGUN 9 first talked to him back in November. Now that it's finished, he said it's everything he hoped for.
"It's amazing," Carpenter said. "It looks professional. It's really well done. And I think people are really going to enjoy it. I think it's great for business. It's great for everybody."
Pima County is also now working on improvements to the Marshall Gulch trail area.
