With development cropping up along the east bench, access to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail is hard to come by.

On Tuesday, the Salt Lake County Council created another access option by approving a $3.4 million land purchase in Cottonwood Heights.

The purchase includes two parcels: a half-acre residential parcel that will be developed as a trailhead and a five-acre lot currently zoned for office buildings that will be used for a park and restrooms.

Cottonwood Heights will chip in $500,000 for development the trailhead and spend an additional $475,000 in engineering, inspection and ongoing maintenance costs.

The purchase was funded by a 2006 voter-approved $48 million bond.