by Tara Hernandez
Record passengers numbers and a growing region over the last several years has prompted the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA) to expand its parking facilities.
Construction on the GFIA parking deck roof is underway with a projected finish date of November 18, 2015. Currently, the Airport is forced to close the fourth level of the parking deck in the winter months because of the snow. A fourth level roof will open up 1,113 additional covered parking spaces.
“We are accommodating our growing passenger volume, and are excited to begin construction on this project,” said GFIA Executive Director Brian Ryks.
“A roof on the fourth level of the garage will give our passengers more space for parking in the winter months, and we all know how wonderful it is to have close, covered parking during Michigan winters.” said Ryks.
When construction on the roof project is complete, the garage will be able to accommodate 4,140 total covered parking spaces year-round.
During construction the contractor will be using a portion of the North Lot adjacent to the garage for staging equipment and materials. Because parking spaces are limited, passengers are urged to arrive at the airport at least 90-120 minutes before their scheduled departure.
Passenger traffic at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport was up 14% in January, and 12% in February.
“Because we are entering a busy season with Spring Break and then again during the summer travel months, we highly urge passengers to give themselves adequate time to park, check in, and get through security,” Ryks said. “We are an easy, efficient airport to navigate but with the rapid passenger growth, we want to make sure passengers are planning ahead.”
The $15 million project will be managed by The Christman Company, and steel for the project is being provided by Grand Rapids firm, Builders Iron. Architectural firm Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber is the design engineer.
