Airport Expansion
A revised master plan was released in May 2006 for the airport and is available for the public to view at the airport's website. Future plans call for runway 17/35 to be realigned to more precisely parallel runways 16L/34R and 16R/34L. Plans also call for runway 16L/34R to be lengthened to 15,100 feet (4,600 m). Plans for a fourth parallel runway west of current 16R/34L are also shown but is more than fifteen years away.
In addition to runway reconfigurations, the airport will construct a new terminal and two new concourses. Plans call for a single terminal with an attached concourse consisting of 31 mainline gates and an additional paralleling satellite concourse consisting of 15 mainline gates and 44 regional jet gates. The two concourses would be attached with an underground automated train. The existing terminal and concourses would be demolished and would leave room for additional expansion onto the two new concourses in the future.
Other plans call for a new parking garage and expanded cargo facilities. Construction of the Airport Line of the UTA TRAX light rail system from the airport to downtown began in October 2008, completion expected in 2013.
In June 2010, the airport asked for public comments on the airport expansion as well as announcing the start of an environmental study of the master plan which had public hearings in the summer of 2011. In February 2012, the airport announced that construction would likely begin in 2013, with completion slated for 2022. The expansion's details are deliberately being kept flexible to better adapt to changing conditions in the airline industry and are likely to change over the next 8–10 years. A top priority of the expansion will be to greatly increase airport buildings' resistance to earthquakes.
Read more about this topic: Salt Lake City International Airport
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