Department of Conservation senior ranger Ruth Garland said the Blue Pools car park, 8km north of Makarora on State Highway6, was the busiest car park between Makarora and Haast.
More than 90,000 visitors walked the beech forest track to the glacier-fed pools each year, but the nearest toilet facilities were 1km away at Cameron Flat.
Ms Garland said construction of the new toilets and parking area began on July 22 and was a joint $2million project between the department and the NZ Transport Agency.
NZTA senior project manager Simon Underwood said the access point for the new parking area will be 500m towards Haast from the existing parking area, opposite the Cameron Flat camping area.
It will be over three terraced levels and will have increased parking for cars (61), campervans (21), and buses (six).
He said it will be on the same side of the highway as the Blue Pools and will link to the pools through an extension to the existing tracks, and would thus be much safer.
Ms Garland said construction of the new toilet block would start once the car park construction had progressed to a suitable stage to allow for access to the site.W
It is expected the toilets, track and parking area will be completed and available for use by the end of November, she said.
