Charlotte City Council approves $48 million for new airport access road

The Charlotte City Council unanimously approved Monday spending nearly $48 million to rebuild and expand the access road in front of the terminal at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

The contract was awarded to a joint venture between Flatiron Constructors and Blythe Development Co., and includes a potential $1.9 million bonus if the project is finished ahead of schedule.

Last year, the airport opened two new hourly parking decks close to the terminal. There is now empty land between those decks and the existing terminal.

The plan calls for a new, larger access road to be built on the empty land. The loop road will have eight lanes for arrivals and eight lanes for departures. Five of the lanes will be for general traffic and three lanes will be for commercial vehicles.

In addition, there will be new tunnels underneath the access road, which will allow pedestrians to walk from the terminal to the parking deck without confronting traffic.

After the tunnels and new roadway are finished, the airport plans to demolish the existing access road. That will create enough space to expand the ticketing area of the terminal. That project could be finished in six years.

The contract also includes paying $1.6 million to HNTB for construction administration and inspection services and $1.97 million to Summit Engineering.

▪ Council members voted 10-2 to spend nearly $3 million to expand the parking lot for Bojangles’ Coliseum and Ovens Auditorium. The parking lot will create 618 new spaces and will be on the site of an old Econo Lodge hotel.

The city bought the hotel for $3.5 million and demolished it. The plan was to use the site to help build an amateur sports complex on the site, but that project has fallen through.

“We are on hold with the amateur sports complex,” said Deputy City Manager Ron Kimble. “There is still a great need for parking for other sports.”

Republicans Kenny Smith and Ed Driggs voted against spending the money on the parking lot.

▪  Council members voted 10-1 to rezone 4.7 acres at Park and Sharon roads to allow for 19 single-family homes and as many as 36 apartments or condos.

The old zoning allowed for three homes per acre. The new zoning will allow nearly 12 units per acre.

Smith, who represents the area, voted for the rezoning. Pasty Kinsey voted against it.

This story was originally published August 24, 2015 at 10:24 PM with the headline "Charlotte City Council approves $48 million for new airport access road."