Part one of the Orlando International Airport’s ambitious $3.5 billion expansion is about to come online, and according to airport leaders, not a moment too soon.
The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) announced plans in 2014 for a new 1.3-million-square foot intermodal hub to connect the southern expansion of the airport to the main building.
In just a few weeks the first part of that hub, the automated people mover, will begin service.
“This a perfect segue into what will be our south terminal complex,” said Davin Ruohomaki, senior director of planning, engineering and construction for OIA. “This will help alleviate some of the traffic off the road congestion.”
The full intermodal hub, which won’t fully open until 2018, will service traffic and rail, with connections for SunRail to link to the terminal.
There are also connections for All Aboard Florida’s planned Brightline train, which will connect Orlando to Fort Lauderdale and Miami, as well as a possible commuter train to connect with the tourist corridor and I-drive.
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In addition, there is also a 2,400-space parking garage designed to alleviate what has become a chief complaint of travelers: lack of parking.
“There is a lot going on, it’s all driven by what’s going on in the community. In June, we passed through 43-million annual passengers," said chief executive officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority Phil Brown. "We’re close to Miami in terms of total passengers and that is a challenge, because we are doing all of this not only here in the main terminal, but expanding our federal inspection station on the other side of four to accommodate the growth there.”
Brown is overseeing the southern expansion of the hub and eventually a new south terminal, as well as a renovation to the existing terminal building.
This is the first major expansion at OIA since it spent $828 million in the 1990s to build the 19-story Hyatt Hotel.
“We’re planning for the growth, so you have to be flexible in terms of the decisions you make, because the decision we make here on infrastructure is a 40-year decision,” Brown said. “We are building to keep up, but the new terminal won’t be open until late 2020, and we’re running out of space now.”
For passengers, some of the changes are already visible.
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Inside the existing terminal building, ticket counters are being updated.
Static airline displays have been replaced by vivid television monitors that can be changed to display any airline, or when not in use, a moving mural of central Florida.
“It’s what we call common use," Brown said. "Airlines can shift from positions to positions, and this is all necessitated from the growth. Pushing the front out 15 feet for more circulation, this is all driven by the airlines because as we all know the processing has changed."
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