Colorado Springs has wrapped up an eight-month project to improve the water supply and access to Garden of the Gods Park.

City officials spoke at the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center Tuesday afternoon to mark the completion of a massive waterline expansion through the park and the work done on a path and parking lot to increase the park’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The 8,000 feet of new waterline crosses the entirety of Garden of the Gods from north to south, ending at the Columbia Road neighborhood. The 12-inch line offers much higher water pressure for the park and the southern neighbors and services nine fire hydrants that have been added in the park.

“The hydrants provides additional firefighting capacity in the park, which is a great resource to us. Those are out best resources for fighting fires,” said Colorado Springs Fire Marshal Kris Cooper.

Cultural Services Manager Matt Mayberry said the extra water pressure will allow the park to eventually add a second year-round bathroom in the park, a much-needed accommodation for the millions of visitors who go through every year.

The city used the water construction to make accessibility improvements to the park. Parking Lot 4 on the northwest side of the park was repaved to be more accessible and had a shuttle stop and seven accessible parking spaces added. Crews also widened and enhanced the trail from the parking lot into the Central Garden area, which contains the Kissing Camels and Sentinel Spires formations.

Emily Shuman, director of the Rocky Mountain ADA Center, said the parking improvements were a crucial step in helping people get into the park in the first place. The ADA Center works to educate governments and businesses across seven Mountain West states about how to provide the best access required by the federal ADA laws.

“We want to make sure that tourism in the area is accessible to everyone,” Shuman said. “People with disabilities are still sometimes left out of recreation and fun, which is an important part of being fully integrated into a community.”

Colorado Springs Utilities paid for half of the roughly $3.5 million project. The rest of the cost was split between the Office of Accessibility, the Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax, revenue from the city’s Park Land Dedication ordinance and the Garden of the Gods Foundation.

Mayberry said the project showed the benefits of collaboration between city departments and other agencies to improve the landmark.