Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport will still have a curbside construction zone disrupting road traffic during the Super Bowl in Atlanta next year.
That's because the construction of massive curbside canopies at the airport won't be complete until mid-2019.
Atlanta airport interim general manager Balram Bheodari said the airport's preparations for the Super Bowl include looking at how construction activity will affect traffic and developing ground transportation plans "to ensure ingress and egress out of the airport."
During a presentation to the Atlanta City Council this week, Bheodari said that by next year, the airport will be in full construction of the canopy over the Terminal South curbside, to be completed by early summer 2019.
The canopies and other terminal improvements are part of a $265 million project, including work on the canopies, vestibules and terminal exterior, and other work inside the terminal and on the roof.
Today, half of the Terminal North curbside lanes are closed overnight and a few lanes are closed at the Terminal South curbside.
By late October, the North curbside canopy will be mostly complete, he said. Then, the roadways on that side of the terminal will fully re-open.
But construction at the Terminal South curbside could bring a new level of traffic congestion.
The Terminal South side of the facility gets about 80 percent of the traffic, according to Bheodari.
During construction at the South curbside, commercial traffic such as shuttles will be moved from the outer lanes of the South curbside to the North curbside, he said. That will free up the outer lanes to ease traffic congestion on the South side, he said.
Bheodari said in preparation for the Super Bowl, the airport has set up a focus group focused on seven key areas, with 34 working groups.
The airport is working on security plans, planning to increase emergency medical support and preparing for any inclement weather. He said the airport is doing preventing maintenance on its snow and ice equipment, and stocking up on deicing fluid.
Hartsfield-Jackson plans to active its emergency operations center for the Super Bowl to be able to quickly respond to any emergency.
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