October 8, 2018 Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport: Monday air travelers discovered the beginnings of canopy work Oct. 8, 2018 that included road closures that began Saturday at the busy Delta Air Lines curbside at Hartsfield-Jackson International, as the airport started construction of a massive canopy at Terminal South. On Saturday morning, parts of the upper roadway at Terminal South were closed, and the entire upper roadway will be closed most nights, according to Hartsfield-Jackson. While road closures at Terminal North for the past year have caused traffic headaches for travelers during construction of the first of the two canopies on either side of the building, the road closures over the next year at Terminal South will disrupt even more people. Atlanta-based Delta makes up more than 80 percent of all airline passenger traffic at Hartsfield-Jackson. Hartsfield-Jackson’s interim assistant general manager of planning and development Tom Nissalke said in a written statement that the airport is “working with our partners to implement traffic mitigation efforts to ease the impact of the construction process. Airport officials recommended that travelers “seek alternate locations for drop-offs and pickups” — particularly during evening construction — adding that the airport’s hourly parking decks “allow for quick, efficient pickups for arriving passengers.” The parking decks cost $3 an hour for the first two hours. They sometimes reach capacity during busy periods of the day. While the airport has a free cell phone lot at Terminal South, traffic congestion can make it difficult to navigate to the curb. “Lessons learned from the North construction will be implemented on the South,” including traffic mitigation and the method to raise steel, said Hartsfield-Jackson spokesman Andrew Gobeil. It’s expected to be a year before the Terminal South canopy is completed in fall 2019. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM

Travelers navigate around Atlanta airport construction at Delta curb

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Monday marked the first big business travel day amid new road closures at the Delta Air Lines curbside at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The Atlanta airport over the weekend started construction of a massive canopy over the Terminal South curbside, which remains open but has some some lane closures and overnight closures of the upper roadway.

Airport officials recommend that, to be safe, travelers should allow an extra 20 to 30 minutes to drive to the airport and plan to be inside the terminal two hours before departure.

Atlanta-based Delta makes up more than 80 percent of all airline passenger traffic at Hartsfield-Jackson. It’s expected to take a year to complete the Terminal South canopy.

Shuttle drop-offs have been relocated to the fully re-opened Terminal North curbside, where the canopy is nearly complete.

During evening construction, when the entire Terminal South upper roadway is closed, the airport will allow passengers to unload from all lanes on the lower roadway instead of navigating to the curb.

Airport officials urged travelers to consider using MARTA or seek alternate locations for drop-offs and pick-ups.

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