Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport will soon begin installation of the first of four pedestrian bridges to be built between the domestic terminal and the parking decks.
The pedestrian bridges are aimed at allowing travelers to walk from parking to the terminal without dodging traffic, which is also expected to improve the flow of vehicles.
The construction will cause the world's busiest airport to close the entire upper level roadway on the North side of the domestic terminal from 9 p.m. this Saturday night, June 8, until 5 a.m. the following morning.
During that overnight period, the airport will close the Uber and Lyft pickup area at Terminal North and direct people to the Terminal South Rideshare pickup area.
Airport-run parking shuttle passengers will be directed to the lower level, and overnight employee shuttles will relocate to the Rental Car Center.
Hartsfield-Jackson said once the work is complete early Sunday morning, “all operations will return to normal as quickly as possible.”
The first pedestrian bridge is expected to be completed next year.
Last fall, the airport got approval for additional funding for the pedestrian bridges to bring the total cost to $55 million for two spans at Terminal South and two at Terminal North to be completed in 2021.
Then in April, the airport got Atlanta City Council approval to apply for additional federal funding for a variety of construction projects, including the pedestrian bridges. The increase in costs was mainly due to an increase in financing and interest expense from a switch to bond funding, as well as bids that "came in higher than originally estimated."
The airport is also continuing construction of the Terminal South canopy, which is scheduled to be completed this fall.
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