This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City International Airport officials are in the process of receiving and reviewing bids for about $750 million worth of construction for the next phases of new terminal construction.
That will be a major slice of the $1.82 billion terminal redevelopment program and will be for construction on portions of the new terminal itself, Mike Williams, project director, told the Airport Advisory Board on Wednesday.
He expects contracts to be awarded by late summer. The new terminal is expected to be completed in 2020.
So far in the project, the airport has built new facilities to house car-rental maintenance operations. That allows ongoing demolition of older car-rental buildings to make way for new terminal facilities.
Williams said the airport has spent $127 million so far — and 97 percent of that work went to area contractors.
Much of the work so far generally has been out of the view of passengers, but that will change next month.
Williams said a new road is being built — close to the side of the parking garage and away from some current terminals — and traffic is expected to be diverted to it next month, also to make way for construction.
He said single lanes of the current road also will be closed at times in coming weeks to allow relocation of some utilities.
The board was told that current facilities were designed to handle about 10 million passengers a year. But last year, the airport handled more than 22 million travelers — showing why new facilities are needed.
The board was told that the airport plans to bond, or borrow, for about $1.01 billion with a 30-year term to help finance the project.
The bonds will be paid through future airport revenue. Cash from taxes paid by airline passengers and rental-car users — plus some federal grants — will be tapped to hold down the amount borrowed.