Beach lovers who have lamented the impending loss of their laid back road- end access to Lake Michigan will have a few more months without pavement.

Projects in the works by Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to turn the county road-ends into paved parking lots have been put on hold until spring.

Lakeshore assistant superintendent Tom Ulrich said applications were made too late to the state Department of Environmental Quality for permits required to alter the road-ends, which are protected as “critical sand dunes.”

Designs have been completed for the projects. The lot on County Road 669 will have space for 20 cars, two double-length pull-through parking berths for buses and RVs, and two handicapped areas. The 651 lot will have 26 standard parking spaces, two pull-through spaces and two handicapped spaces.

The 651 road end will also be connected to M-22 with pavement, according to County Road Commission chair Lee Bowen, who was pleased in learning that the Lakeshore project had been delayed until spring. The Road Commission budget is tight this year, he explained, and the 651 project was unbudgeted.

“I try to watch the finances close. I’m very comfortable that we can absorb that cost, but I’m always very tight with the money,” said Bowen.

Bowen said paving 651 will be cheaper if coupled with the Lakeshore’s road-end project. He estimated the cost at about $25,000, which will likely be included in the 2008 budget.

Paving will also save money in summer maintenance.

The one-half mile gravel road is listed as “seasonal” by the Road Commission, meaning that it is not plowed in the winter. The Road Commission has not discussed changing its status.

The Lakeshore has budgeted $265,000 to turn both road-ends into parking lots, Ulrich said. He said a few phone calls and letters have been received by the Park Service opposing the projects.

“I think most of what people are lamenting, is there is a need for this at my beach?” said Ulrich.

The project will help control run-off, he added, as the packed-down surface now at the road ends offers little absorption. Also, water pumps and kiosks will be constructed.