UPDATE: Tuesday, June 16, 2024
We're almost halfway done with the parking lot repaving.
Today, crews began removing old pavement near the center section of long-term parking. We had to tow more than 20 vehicles to make way for the pavement milling machines.
Vehicles were towed to another section of the lot. If you return to the airport, and can't find your ride, please look for the signs with instructions on what to do. Apologies for the inconvenience!
We’ve received several questions from the public about the project. Most want to know why we’re repaving the lots during the busy summer travel season. The answer has a lot of moving pieces, so bear with us here.
If your vehicle has been moved, instructions for finding it will be on signs posted in the lot.
Repaving an airport parking lot presents unique challenges. Consider these points …
An airport parking lot is never empty. And it needs to be empty before it can be resurfaced. Contrast this, for example, to a shopping center parking lot: it’s empty overnights and on weekends. Repaving can take place during those downtimes.
The problem, of course, is that airports don’t have a downtime – the parking lot always has lots of cars in it. To overcome this, we’ve been closing lot sections one at a time, then waiting for the sections to empty out. Then we repave. This process takes a lot of time.
Lots of time! Consider this: we started the repaving project by closing the short-term parking lot on May 7. We then waited for the lot to empty so repaving could begin. 14 days later there were still about a dozen vehicles in the lot. They were moved to long-term parking and repaving began. The actual work of repaving took about two-and-a-half days. The lot re-opened 16 days after it was closed. Think about that for a minute: it took 16 days to complete two-and-a-half days of work.
When we were planning the repaving project and started doing the math of ‘wait time vs. actual work done time’, it quickly became apparent that it would take all summer and part of the fall to complete the project. Keep the seasons in mind as we move on to the next point.
The paving material for the project is Hot Mix Asphalt. That’s HMA for short. HMA should be put down when the ambient temperature is between 50 and 90 degrees F. If you stray above or below those temperatures, the lifespan of the new pavement will be shortened. Here’s the bottom line: you need to put HMA down in the late spring, summer, and early fall. The repaving project will take all of that.
If you’d like a deep dive into the intricacies of HMA, check this out.
Many of you wonder when the airport will expand parking. We’re in the planning process and have two options we’re exploring:
1) Expand the parking lots. Early construction cost estimates put this option in the ballpark of $6 million dollars. If we go with this option, we’ll need to start a parking lot shuttle service. The annual cost of that would be over a million dollars.
2) Build a parking garage. Construction cost of $50 million plus.
Yes, providing parking is expensive! Case in point: before it’s all said and done, the repaving project, that we’re doing right now, will cost about $1.6 million.
UPDATE: Friday, May 31, 2024
The northeast section of long-term parking is now roped off, barricaded, and officially closed.
Vehicles that are parked there have approximately two weeks to leave. After that, they will be towed to another section of the lot and repaving of the northeast section will begin.
If your vehicle is moved, instructions for finding it will be on signs posted in the lot.
Work will continue throughout the summer with sections of long-term parking being closed one at a time. It’s impossible to provide exact dates of what will happen when; much depends on weather, and the paving contractor’s schedule.
UPDATE: Saturday, May 25, 2024
The short-term lot is now re-paved and open. It re-opened Friday, May 24, at 3:39 p.m.
Next week crews will start working on the long-term lots
A big thanks to the paving contractor, APAC, for making up time lost to thunderstorms earlier this week.
Work will continue throughout the summer with sections of long-term parking being closed one at a time. It’s impossible to provide exact dates of what will happen when; much depends on weather, and the paving contractor’s schedule.
If your vehicle has been moved, instructions for finding it will be on signs posted in the lot.
May 1, 2024
This spring and summer the public parking lots at the airline terminal will be resurfaced.
Work is currently scheduled to begin May 6 with the closing of the short-term parking lot. While short-term is closed, everyone will have to park in the long-term lots. Those needing handicapped parking will need to use the handicapped parking spaces in the long-term lot.
Work will continue through-out the summer with sections of long-term parking being closed one at a time. It’s impossible to provide exact dates of what will happen when; much depends on weather, and the paving contractor’s schedule.
We’ll update this page as more information becomes available.