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SALT LAKE CITY — Anyone who has had to fly out of Salt Lake or picked up anybody at the airport recently, probably noticed an increase in construction activity. And, in a few days it'll only increase.
Beginning Oct. 1, people won't be able to pick up or drop off passengers, inside the parking garage on the second level. Those four lanes on the right side of the entrance ramp will shut down.
"Here at the airport, this is our first big roadway change," said Bianca Shreeve, public relations manager for Salt Lake International Airport
It's all part of the massive $1.8 billion terminal redevelopment project. The official groundbreaking took place in July 2014. Site work has been going on away from the terminal area since then, but now is the time to begin some of the major construction.
"The exit ramp of the drive-thru will actually empty out into an active construction area," Shreeve says. "In the coming months the exit ramp will be demolished and the rental car canopies, which a lot of people are familiar seeing, will be demolished as well."
Passengers will still be able to park on the three levels of the garage, but eventually the current garage will come down and be replaced.
"It will actually double our existing parking availability. So we'll have about 3,500 spots in the new parking structure, but we need to build it before we demolish this one," said Shreeve.
This redesigning the airport is necessary, because it is outdates and no longer efficient in terms of traffic flow, for passengers getting in and out of the airport, as well as for the airplanes themselves. The new concourse design will eliminate the bottlenecks at the gates, and the entire project will bring the airport up to current earthquake standards.
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Construction is set to begin Friday on a new project that will take the 20 million people who fly through Utah each year to new heights.Shreeve said construction will be done in phases until 2022. "The remarkable part about this project is that we're building and demolishing and remaining operational all at the same time."
That means airport visitors will see increased construction activity and equipment, lane redesigns and delays at times. Whether people are flying out or picking up someone, make it a habit to allow extra time.
"Throughout the construction, changes will be coming, but they're good changes, they're worth it. And we want to assure the public that at the end of this process is an amazing new terminal that the whole community will be proud of," Shreeve said.
