US$2 billion Cleveland Hopkins Airport expansion plans unveiled

A US$2 billion master expansion plan has been unveiled for the Cleveland Hopkins Airport that includes new concourses, a redesigned traffic flow into the airport campus, and a bigger terminal. The plans have been presented to the City Council’s Transportation Committee. The concourse reconstruction involves the building of concourse B, C, and D, as well as the remodeling of concourse A. It was also announced that there is a need for a new security and ticketing area as well as the requirement of onsite rental car facilities and closer parking. Redesigning of roads surrounding the airport and the construction of an elevated connecting road, which will be linked to Interstate 71 to eliminate all airport traffic from State Route 237 have also been included in the proposal.

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Robert Kennedy, the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport director said the “plan is bold and it’s big,” while stating that the airport’s terminal is among the needed changes as it currently has a pre-9/11 design. He added that roadways, parking, and rental car areas also need improvement. “We don’t need to add any more runways,” the director said. “We do need to do a lot of work over the next 10 years on that airfield, but we will not need to expand beyond our current boundaries of the airport.”

Under the city’s preferred scenario, the Cleveland Hopkins Airport expansion would include a renovation of Concourse A and rebuild Concourses B and C. The Concourse D; which has been sitting empty since 2014, when United pulled its hub out of Cleveland would be demolished in favor of two new concourses branching off the main terminal area but officials decided building a new Concourse D and a small Concourse E would make for better use of land and shorter walking times for passengers.  “It’s discouraging to learn that all of our existing infrastructures is so obsolete that it can’t be repurposed,” said Ward 15 Councilwoman Jenny Spencer, who had questions about the scope and cost of the project.

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