Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) has presented a $2bn expansion plan to the City Council’s Transportation Committee.
The proposal, submitted by the airport’s top officials, is part of the airport’s new 20-year master plan that includes upgrades to the existing terminals as well as the campus.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport director Robert Kennedy was quoted by WKYC-TV as saying: “This plan is bold. It’s big.”
The proposal includes the construction of a new concourse and the reconstruction of concourse B, C, and D, as well as the remodelling of concourse A.
In addition to these upgrades, the plan has also outlined the need for a new ticketing and security area.
Furthermore, the plan has highlighted the requirement of onsite rental car facilities and closer parking.
The plan also calls for the redesigning of roads surrounding the airport and the construction of an elevated connecting road, which will be linked to Interstate 71 to eliminate all airport traffic from State Route 237.
Kennedy stated that the master plan has been in the works for more than a year, which will now go to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a six-month review.
He further said that the upgrades will be carried out using user fees and not from taxpayer money.
Planning and engineering chair Dennis Kramer said: “Many of these facilities are past their useful life so a programme that is associated with more new construction vs renovation is going to be in the long term much more beneficial.
“Approximately 95% of airports in the country, similar-sized to us or larger have a configuration of just like this where they have a direct connection to a major interstate.”
