This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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 is about to make significant shifts in its Terminal Drive and a separate road that exits the parking garage as part of its $2.6 billion airport rebuild project.
The new detours will help open up land needed to construct the new terminal and a new parking garage. They will add about one-third of a mile to the exit of the airport, so drivers may want to allow extra time to pick up or drop off passengers.
The detour from the road exiting the parking garage is scheduled to begin on Wednesday. The detour to Terminal Drive is scheduled to begin on Sept. 7.
The roadways will take a sharp turn south near the edge of the current parking garage and will loop around near some recently completed projects that house rental-car service facilities.
The new roadways are scheduled to be in place until 2020, when a new elevated roadway is expected to be completed.
"This is an exciting time for the airport rebuild project," said Maureen Riley, executive director of the airport. "We appreciate everyone's patience as the construction become more visible and the roadways will shift."
The airport reminds drivers that parking and waiting is not allowed at curbs to help ensure a smoother traffic flow, but the airport has a special park-and-wait lot. The airport also notes that the Utah Transit Authority's Green Line TRAX is an alternative to avoid the road detours.