Coming on the heels of the National Park Service finishing the rail and viewing platform at Horseshoe Bend on July 2, the city of Page revealed their own Horseshoe Bend improvements at the July 11 city council work session.
The city will be making significant improvements to Horseshoe Bend’s parking lot in coming months.
The main additions the city will be making in the near future will be greatly expanding their parking lots, as well as making the entrances and exits to the site more accessible and less congested.
After the expansion, the parking lot will have 310 parking spaces with the ability to expand further to accommodate 450 vehicles, if necessary.
The overall cost for the improvement project is expected to be just over $4 million. Part of the improvements will include fee gates for Horseshoe Bend visitors, which will allow the city to recoup its construction costs and maintain the property going forward.
According to a document the city put out at the July 11 work session it plans to put the construction project out for bid on September 19 with construction beginning Oct. 25. Construction is intended to be finished by April 7, 2019.
“Visitation has grown astronomically in the past five or six years,” said Mayor Bill Diak during the work session. “The area was being degraded and abused. We realized we needed to protect it and make it safe for visitors.”