Warning: I'm a building/ infrastructure dork. Skip to end of post to news about Airpot Food.
Cap Metro announced different options of eventually getting transit to the airport. Personally, I don't think there is a real need for rail to the airport until we have a 2nd terminal and double the amount of daily employees but rail to the airport makes dicks hard for some reason.
Both options are extensions of a Riverside Rail/BRT line that starts at Downtown (4th and Guad).
Option 1: Line stays on Riverside at 71 intersection and hits Airport's west side. It tunnels underneath the runway/taxiway to get to the area near the new airport admin offices, public garage and rental car facility. There is a strong possibility that this is the future entrance of the main terminal but we won't know until later this year. This might be a problem since it would require East-West tunneling and the airport has to reserve North-South tunneling for future roadway connections between the north and south. I'm sure it's still doable but might require deeper tunnel.
Option 2: Line turns from Riverside to 71 and terminates at airport entrance near 71. After thinking about it, I kind of like this option better because it would be way cheaper and serve as a possible continuation point to Del Valley/COTA as it grows. It could also go to the planned (NOT FUNDED) high speed rail from Dallas to Mexico which would pass east of the airport in Austin. Again, It would be way way way way cheaper. People would need to take some kind of connection vehicle from the rail stop to the terminal and the Master Plan has thrown around installation a smart transit system at the airport like Modutram, vector or 2getthere. The smart transit system would link together the terminal with the rail stop, hilton hotel, and other shit on the grounds.
New Master Plan
Work continues on the new Master Plan. It is scheduled to be formally submitted for approval by ABIA by may but will have to go to council after that. It will basically govern airport expansion over the next 20 years. The next expansion could be a brand new terminal south of the tower. Another possible terminal expansion option is adding 2 piers to the southside of the main terminal which would add 30 more gates. However, the increase in passenger capacity which would require the old short term garage to be demolished so a new processing/security/baggage facility could be built in order to support the additional passengers. That would mean the main entrance to the terminal would be in front of the two new garages. The existing security/bagage area would be incorporated into front of house (past security) use so everything wouldn't be so damned cramped. The new garage on Lot A will more than replace the loss of the old short term garage.
New Runways
Part of the new plan is also looking at the runway situation. The current east runway needs maintenance which might mean a 3rd runway will be needed earlier than traffic dictates. The best option for the airport is to build a Far East runway but it would require moving all or most of the Travis County Prison, Closing FM 973, burying 130, building on flood land and buying out some people's houses. So....fucking expensive. The advantage is that it would be far enough away from the current east runway that it could have simultaneous takeoffs and landings. There are options to build parallel runways next to the existing runways but they would be too close to have simultaneous operations. The super cheap option is to build a 3rd runway between the west runway and main terminal but it can't operate independently from the west runway and would restrict further westward expansion of the main terminal which you might want if your plan is to build a new operations facility where the old short term garage is.
Airport Interested in Leasing Open Land
The city put out a call for interest in land on the west side of the airport. The portion closest to 183 would be aviation themed retail but the bulk of the land would be for some kind of cargo/plane operation that could support 8 cargo buildings, tons of truck docks and staging and 25-30 parked planes.That could be someone like Amazon that wants to start their own airline fleet and needs space for their planes and facility for managing cargo or Delta for maintaining a fleet of planes if they are expanding Austin service. This is to see who is formally interested in the land and what they would do with it. The airport would have to put out a subsequent request for proposals to start the process of actually signing a deal with another company. I think the hope is that Delta would submit formal interest to using some of the land to house offices/planes for expanded future operations at ABIA but it could also be a move to generate more money from expanded freight operations from Fedex or UPS.
Current Construction Projects
- 9 Gate Extension of Main Terminal eastward and increased taxiway/pavement(2019). Expanded section will be much wider than the rest of the airport and provide a %30 increase in concourse space. Along with nine new gates, the expansion includes the replacement of three existing gates, and all gates can accommodate domestic airline operations. Four gates will accommodate international flights. The expanded terminal will accommodate approximately 4 million additional passengers per year for a total of 15 million annual passengers – an increase of 27 percent. New stores in the expansion include: 24 Diner, Parkside, and a duty free store.
-Admin Office Building(2019) and Parking Garage (2018). The former Lot A location accommodated 1,021 parking spaces. The new garage with 6,000 significantly increases parking capacity in that area. Project also includes new entry plazas to the parking lots, garages and to the Rental Car Facility Enlarging and upgrading the north exit plaza to meet the demands of the expanded parking operations. Also Upgrades to signs along Presidential Blvd.
-New Consolidated Maintenance Complex. 6-7 building complex at the far northeast end of the airport grounds that will house all of the maintenance needs of the airport which (IIRC) will allow for all of those old airfare buildings near the tower and south terminal to be demolished. It should start construction soon.
-ABIA Retail and New Cell Phone Lot (2018) Just off Presidential Blvd. and Spirit of Texas Drive, at the same site as the previous free cell phone lot, construction has progressed to the tenant improvement phase. Texaco brand gasoline will be sold at the station and a 2,600 square foot Austin Java coffee store will operate with a drive-thru. A duel Subway sandwich restaurant and TacoN Mama location will operate at the site. The gas pumps and 4,500 square foot convenience store are estimated to open in May of 2018 with the restaurants following a month later.
March Construction Update
-A total of 284 of the estimated 310 concrete piers needed have been placed as the work to construct the Austin airport’s new 6,000 parking space garage continues. Piers reaching depths up to 71-feet and ranging from 24 to 66-inches in diameter will support the new six-story parking garage
-The construction of ABIA Retail, the new cell phone lot, gas station, convenience store and restaurants, is nearly 85 percent complete.
-Delta Air Lines announced the inclusion of a 9,000 square foot Delta Sky Club to be located in the 9-gate expansion of the Barbara Jordan Terminal that is currently under constructio
-Construction work to replace and modernize bag Carousel 3 has started. Carousel 1 was updated last year.
Food and Store News
-The construction wall near Gate 8 signifies the building of a new Departure Lounge and Berry Austin frozen yogurt at the Austin airport. An upscale interactive travel discovery location, the 1,230 square foot Departure Lounge will showcase future travel vacations and getaways. The lounge will offer appointments with travel advisors and serve organic coffees, small- batch boutique wines, artisan chocolates, and cheeses. The new 300 square foot Berry Austin airport location will offer uniquely flavored yogurt recipes from founder Kathy Steele, who opened her flagship location in central Austin in 2009. With 10 flavors of frozen yogurt and 50 available toppings, Berry Austin will also offer smoothies, parfaits, floats and other treats.
-BookPeople, the largest independently-owned bookstore in Austin is open at its re-designed location at the Austin airport.