By AARON RICCA/The Bee

KINGMAN – Finally more relief from the sun for more Kingman Area Regional Transit riders. 

City of Kingman Public Works crews were installing stop shelters at KART sites throughout Kingman Tuesday.

The shelters will offer much needed shade and cover to KART riders who often sit on the ground or sidewalk or stand while baking in the summer heatand pelted by rain during storms.

KART Supt. Sheri Furr said new shelters went up Tuesday. A concrete slab at one KART site still needs to be modified to support a shelter, she added. 

The following areas now have shelters:

-Western Avenue in front of Mohave Mental Health.

– Mission Boulevard between Mohave State Bank and Valle Vista Medical Center on Hualapai Mountain Road.

– Kino Avenue near the Mohave County Planning Department building.

– Harrison Avenue at the Centennial Park Community Center.

Shelters have been up at the main KART hubs at Walmart and downtown at Andy Devine Avenue and Third Street. 

Others protect riders at smaller stops around town. Between the shade housings and bike lanes, Kingman continues to progress.

According to the City of Kingman website, KART operates four fixed routes, traveling approximately 190,000 miles annually and providing 7,000 to 10,000 passenger trips each month. 

KART is funded by the Federal Transit Administration Section 5311 Rural Transit Grant Program, Arizona Department of Transportation, City of Kingman General Fund, fare revenue and advertising revenue. 

Plans for route expansion to the Kingman Airport are in the works.

The new shelters came courtesy of the now defunct Lake Havasu City public transit program that was scrapped due to a population and funding requirement.

Furr said sites on Mohave County roads on the outskirts of Kingman were considered, but nixed until the county could provide the appropriate funding.