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-   -   SAN ANTONIO | City and Metro Transportation Thread (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167816)

hookem Jun 18, 2008 7:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas (Post 3620114)
Just imagine if it was the Butt airport though. Pilots would be talking about "flying into Butt". :D

Or worse... could be a pilot of a cargo plane flying out with a load of primates... (technically plausible, with the hospitals/medical research in SA!)

texboy Jun 18, 2008 9:47 PM

I would Love it if someone could drive by and snaps some shots of this!

ScizzoTX Jun 18, 2008 10:00 PM

^^ I'll be flying into SAT on United tomorrow and will have my camera with me. If I get the chance (and if there is something worth seeing) I'll take some photos and post them here.

STLtoSA Jun 19, 2008 3:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schertz1 (Post 3620346)
I am not quite sure what a full blown airport is, but Stinson Municipal Airport does have a long range plan to expand with SAT and the South side of San Antonio.


Actually Stinsons runways are too short for anything bigger than very small private jets to use. There need to extend the runway somewhere between 300-400' to land medium to large sized private jets. Some land has recently been given to the city but there are a lot of environmental issues as well as rerouting roads, etc. They are trying to get it done. They are under pressure from corporations like Toyota who could benefit from using the airport to fly in and out of.

alexjon Jun 19, 2008 4:30 PM

The commuter rail line will more than likely be re-routed slightly for this purpose, I'm sure

KeepSanAntonioLame Jun 27, 2008 8:08 PM

I doubt stinson will be a commercial airport anytime soon, even with the terminal expansion.

jowens Jun 28, 2008 4:27 AM

I drove down from Austin and picked up passengers from Terminal 2 and brought them back to the airport this past week.

What an aweful experience!

They can't replace that terminal fast enough!

texboy Jun 28, 2008 7:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jowens (Post 3640668)
I drove down from Austin and picked up passengers from Terminal 2 and brought them back to the airport this past week.

What an aweful experience!

They can't replace that terminal fast enough!



Its called construction....when has it ever been easy....get over it.

OfCourse Jun 28, 2008 8:16 AM

Speaking of the airport...

Has anything been done to Terminal 1?

Last time I flew into SAT was in 2002 when I was flying from Harlingen to Los Angeles. The terminal seemed small and outdated (colors, glass, etc) and reminded me of the Golden Girls house.

oldmanshirt Jun 28, 2008 3:30 PM

Terminal 1 isn't that bad. Sure, it isn't huge or flashy, but its efficiently designed and has a respectable amount of retail and food options. If anything, terminal 2 makes it look worse by forcing people to judge it as the "modern" terminal. Having the new terminals will make terminal 1 look better, imo.

Not that it really has anything to do with anything, but when I was a real little kid, I always got the ceiling of terminal 1 confused with the arch at the entrance to SeaWorld. I'm pretty sure the first time my family flew out of terminal 1, I asked my mom if we were at SeaWorld :P

KeepSanAntonioLame Jun 28, 2008 5:02 PM

terminal one is fine. since 2002 they've remodeled the inside, so it's pretty nice.

Schertz1 Jun 28, 2008 7:03 PM

I flew out of SAT this morning; terminal one is nice enough, minus the gate area restrooms. They were not much better than a public park restroom, complete with funky oder, dirty walls, and broken locks.

Trae Jun 28, 2008 9:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schertz1 (Post 3641479)
I flew out of SAT this morning; terminal one is nice enough, minus the gate area restrooms. They were not much better than a public park restroom, complete with funky oder, dirty walls, and broken locks.

Sad. :(

LoneStarMike Jun 29, 2008 7:08 AM

SAT's April 2008 passenger traffic
 
Just a heads up - SAT has now posted their traffic statistics for April, 2008 here.

The text of the release is as follows:

Quote:

San Antonio International Airport Reports Record-Breaking Year-To-Date Passengers Through April 2008

Total year-to-date passengers (2,662,048) through April 2008 increased 5.19% over the same period in 2007. Total year-to-date domestic passengers (2,612,234) increased 5.74%, while total international passengers (49,850) decreased 17.28% when compared to the same period in 2007. Enplanements for April 2008 (348,920) increased 2.9% when compared to April 2007. Total enplaned and deplaned passengers (693,040) for April 2008 increased 3.47% over the same month in 2007.
The actual report goes into more detail and shows passenger counts broken down by airline, etc.

Passenger statistics for January, February and March 2008 can be found here

ScizzoTX Jul 8, 2008 11:14 PM

I flew out of SAT yesterday and took a few pictures of the new terminal construction. They have completely rerouted the road in front of terminal two and set up a makeshift drop-off/pickup point that will serve the airport until construction is finished. The new setup, although temporary, is absolutely terrible. It looks cheap and traffic is a nightmare. Hopefully another change is planned before Thanksgiving and Christmas traffic hits. Of course, this is all growing pains - the new terminal will be a great addition to the airport.

Although terminal 2 is a mess, I found all the terminal 1 improvements to be quite nice. I haven't flown through that terminal in a while and it was nice to see the finished product. Also, as of this week SAT now offers free Wifi. I think Sacramento is the only other airport to do the same.

Anyway, here are the pics, taken from the upper level of terminal 1:

1. The torn up road and the new drop-off/pickup setup I mentioned. Notice the terrible traffic at 2pm on a Monday. The traffic was backed all the way past terminal 1:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/DSC_0076.jpg

2. Demolishing part of the old terminal 2, and beginning work on the two level road that will eventually connect with the road in front of terminal 1:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/DSC_0075.jpg

3. Beginning work on the new terminal:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/DSC_0074.jpg

4.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...n/DSC_0073.jpg

oldmanshirt Jul 8, 2008 11:39 PM

Thanks for the pics, schizzo. My wife and I are flying into SAT next weekend, and it was good to get a heads-up on the traffic congestion.

Its going to be so nice once that new terminal (and the two-level roadway) is opened! Finally an SA native won't have to make any apologies for his airport :yes:

ICEVET Jul 18, 2008 1:04 AM

As a native San Antonian, I have to concede that SAT after expansion will be far superior to what we had previously. Having said that, I could also add that I left San Antonio at the age of 17 when I enlisted, and did not return to permanently reside until I retired from government service at 55. During that time, I lived in six states and two foreign countries. I had a chance to see a few airports, both in the U.S. and abroad.

I have mentioned in other forums that I am somewhat dismayed that the new, completed airport will have no freeway egress ramp. In other words, you will not be able to depart the airport via the new, two-level terminal roadway and smoothly transition onto either U.S. 281 or I-410. It is fine that those leaving the central business district via 281 North can transition into the airport terminal areas on a completed off-ramp. But how can it be that an airport in a FAIRLY large metro area, (I use the term cautiously), adjacent to TWO heavily-trafficked freeways, could end up being served by only ONE lousy freeway ramp?

I corresponded to the TXHighwayMan on this point, and he confirmed that there will be no egress ramp from SAT. He stated that there "will be a study" to determine if an egress ramp is really necessary. I could hardly believe it when I read it. Try leaving SAT and getting on 281 North. You have a minimum of about three traffic signals to negotiate, and during rush hour it can take twenty minutes or longer. I regard this as a major deficiency that should have been taken into consideration as part of the airport expansion and planned for. By the time the "study" is finished, the situation (already bad) will have probably evolved into another one of our traffic "laughing stocks".

oldmanshirt Jul 18, 2008 1:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ICEVET (Post 3679824)
I have mentioned in other forums that I am somewhat dismayed that the new, completed airport will have no freeway egress ramp. In other words, you will not be able to depart the airport via the new, two-level terminal roadway and smoothly transition onto either U.S. 281 or I-410. It is fine that those leaving the central business district via 281 North can transition into the airport terminal areas on a completed off-ramp. But how can it be that an airport in a FAIRLY large metro area, (I use the term cautiously), adjacent to TWO heavily-trafficked freeways, could end up being served by only ONE lousy freeway ramp?

I corresponded to the TXHighwayMan on this point, and he confirmed that there will be no egress ramp from SAT. He stated that there "will be a study" to determine if an egress ramp is really necessary. I could hardly believe it when I read it. Try leaving SAT and getting on 281 North. You have a minimum of about three traffic signals to negotiate, and during rush hour it can take twenty minutes or longer. I regard this as a major deficiency that should have been taken into consideration as part of the airport expansion and planned for. By the time the "study" is finished, the situation (already bad) will have probably evolved into another one of our traffic "laughing stocks".

I can understand that frustration, and agree that a flyover/direct connect exit makes just as much sense as the existing entrance ramp. However, its in this case that the location of the airport gives SA one of its few advantages when it comes to air travel. In cities like Denver and Houston, it doesn't matter that freeway access is direct; you're still going to end up driving a good 30-45 minutes to get to downtown, even on a good day. In SA, yeah you have to go through a few lights (including the ridiculously long lights at Airport Blvd and 410), but once you get past those, you're home free, as there are ramps going to freeways in every direction that are in close proximity, and you are no farther than 5-8 minutes from most of SA's population and business hubs (downtown, Med Center, Stone Oak, etc). I think this is one case where SAT's convenient location minimizes the inconvenience of not having an egress ramp.

oldmanshirt Jul 19, 2008 3:39 AM

Construction update:
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/6246/d762ir4.jpg

ICEVET Jul 19, 2008 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldmanshirt (Post 3679934)
I can understand that frustration, and agree that a flyover/direct connect exit makes just as much sense as the existing entrance ramp. However, its in this case that the location of the airport gives SA one of its few advantages when it comes to air travel. In cities like Denver and Houston, it doesn't matter that freeway access is direct; you're still going to end up driving a good 30-45 minutes to get to downtown, even on a good day. In SA, yeah you have to go through a few lights (including the ridiculously long lights at Airport Blvd and 410), but once you get past those, you're home free, as there are ramps going to freeways in every direction that are in close proximity, and you are no farther than 5-8 minutes from most of SA's population and business hubs (downtown, Med Center, Stone Oak, etc). I think this is one case where SAT's convenient location minimizes the inconvenience of not having an egress ramp.

I concede those points as valid; I guess my concern originates from imagining what that scene might be like in the next ten years or so, expecially if Terminal Three buiilds out to its max # of gates and our metro area growth remains steady.


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