LOS ANGELES | LAX Modernization Plan

[Quixote]

Here's another look at the renovated Terminal 5 baggage claim area. The photo belongs to LAWA.

[Quixote]

And for what it's worth, the forthcoming "improvements" to Terminal 2. Also from LAWA.

Ticketing Lobby


Baggage Claim

[Quixote]

T4 Connector renderings, courtesy of LAWA. I had posted the link already, but I want to get the renderings on my computer before my free Photoshop trial expires.

[jg6544]

So, tell us, how does one get from this spiffy, new T4 to, say, T8?

[Ragnar]

Originally Posted by jg6544

So, tell us, how does one get from this spiffy, new T4 to, say, T8?

It's not built for going from T4 to T8 (which would be a connection from American to United -- which very few people do). The connector will provide secure-side connections between TBIT and T4, and will also provide secure-side bus connections between TBIT and the other terminals (basically for int'l-domestic connections).

More info here:
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LA...Newsletter.pdf

If you really need to connect from T4 to T8, they are going to reopen the tunnel between T4 and T5, and you will be able to connect inside security between all South-side terminals (T4, T5, T6, T7, T8).

[caligrad]

That doesn't look half bad actually.... kinda goes along with the new terminal nicely... now all we need is to copy this design on the other side of Bradley to connect terminals 1-3...... and start rebuilding the terminals from there on....we will have a brand new airport by 2025..jsut a random year I picked... I hope the people at LAX read these threads for some ideas. shouldn't cost that much to rebuild each terminal one by one. make the airlines eat up some of the cost.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by caligrad

That doesn't look half bad actually.... kinda goes along with the new terminal nicely... now all we need is to copy this design on the other side of Bradley to connect terminals 1-3......

There are plans for that.

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by Ragnar

It's not built for going from T4 to T8 (which would be a connection from American to United -- which very few people do). The connector will provide secure-side connections between TBIT and T4, and will also provide secure-side bus connections between TBIT and the other terminals (basically for int'l-domestic connections).

More info here:
http://www.lawa.org/uploadedFiles/LA...Newsletter.pdf

If you really need to connect from T4 to T8, they are going to reopen the tunnel between T4 and T5, and you will be able to connect inside security between all South-side terminals (T4, T5, T6, T7, T8).

I have lived in L. A. since 1994 and the only time I've been in the TBIT was to meet a friend who was flying back from Morocco. Most of the inter-terminal transferring I have done has been within the United Terminals, although I once transferred from an American flight to a United flight when flying from NY to SFO because the United nonstop was canceled. You're right; to get from one terminal to another, you either walk or you wait for a shuttle to come wandering aimlessly along. Traveling within the airport or, indeed within terminals, is a nightmare - only one of the things that makes LAX such a dump.

[caligrad]

Just picked up a friend from LAX about an hour ago.. wasn't bad at all, obviously didn't get out of my car, but from a traffic stand point which wasn't that bad... I noticed 2 things that made me scratch my head.... I saw a LOT of shuttle busses, big busses, travel busses that seem to drive around the loop over and over again....and one star tour bus that went around twice like I did... I know because the driver was driving SO SLOW IN FRONT OF ME, one thing that I noticed is the busses are kind of aggressive.... they switch lanes without even a signal, cut drivers off, like they did me and a couple of lanes of cars, and they block the ramps that lead into the pick up areas under the upper deck and that leads to my next observation...... with the pick up areas.... literally the entire area from terminal 1-3 that I noticed, since my friend was coming through terminal 3, it was all designated "taxi pickup only"....uummm ok whatever... but than when I pulled up to an area near terminal 3 where there was no sign saying I couldn't, some guy in a taxi pulls up on the side of my car and basically yells at me and my friend saying " this is taxi pick up only, move your car, you guys need to use airport services so there wont be so much traffic" uumm ok my friend lives in long beach.... not happening, would be expensive. so as he drives off angrily, airport cop pulls up and I thought " oh great more trouble", he said "ignore that driver, he was in the wrong, you guys can pull up here, its not a designated area for taxi pickups only, I got his plates, I will take care of this, drive safe and have a happy new year"..............long story short, I hope a green line extension, people mover or some line extension happens SOON. This rant has nothing to do with the overall design of the airport. Its not that bad considering how old it is. I Just cant wait for the day that busses and taxi become secondary or even third options for people using LAX and rail can connect the airport with the rest of the city and becomes everyone first option.................end rant.

[losangelesnative]

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/0..._important.php
article on curbed about how LAX chief explains that the airlines dont think people mover is important

[losangelesnative]

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...ic_problem.php
another article on curbed about how LAWA is spending $118 million dollars to add another traffic lane to the terminal roadway and reconfigure the departures level road as well as add wayfinding signage

[losangelesnative]

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...he_airport.php
article how metro is narrowing down the alternatives for rail to the airport and also the crenshaw line will have an official groundbreaking on tuesday

[202_Cyclist]

Los Angeles Airport and Westfield issue commercial RFPs for new T2

2/12/14
The Moodie Report
By North America Bureau Chief Patricia Ryan

"Los Angeles World Airports and master retail developer Westfield Group are set to issue Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for Los Angeles International Airport’s Terminal 2 today. At stake are 12 food & beverage locations and nine retail outlets. In total, 16 of the units will be on the Departures level, four in Arrivals and one on a mezzanine. In the upcoming bids, these are split into 12 packages.

The RFPs are the first of a number that will take place as LAX is redeveloped. In coming months there will be tenders for the new-look T6, with terminals 1 and 3 to follow later. Westfield manages five of LAX’s nine terminal (Tom Bradley International Terminal plus terminals 1, 2, 3 and 6). As reported , Westfield and LAWA opened the acclaimed new Tom Bradley International Terminal last year.

The airport held a Concession Information Meeting yesterday (11 February) to inform interested concessionaires about the RFPs for T2. The event was attended by around 500 people, including The Moodie Report North America Bureau Chief Patricia Ryan.."

http://www.moodiereport.com/document...7&doc_id=38353

[Quixote]

The Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) project is moving forward. The first phase is the MSC North program, which will bring a total of 11 new large aircraft gates to a new concourse west of the existing TBIT. A future second phase could add an additional 18 new gates to the concourse, bringing the total to a whopping 29 gates. A new Central Terminal Processor (CTP) and people mover (the "skybridge" is dead) are included in the project.

The DEIR was released this past Thursday. The Final EIR will be released in the second quarter of 2014. Construction is slated to begin in the third/fourth quarter of 2014. Take that schedule with a grain of salt.

http://www.lawa.org/MSCNorth/index.aspx

[Quixote]

And some more good news...

Air France (all flights) and KLM will be moving to TBIT from shitty Terminal 2 in two weeks (March 30th). Alitalia will follow a month later (April 29th); Air New Zealand later this year.

[citywatch]

lawa.org

Light Takes Flight

Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design teams up with AECOM to give LAX a contemporary lighting treatment.

By Deane Madsen

The lights of Los Angeles are visible as far east as Palm Springs, Calif., with a brightness that builds in a steady crescendo with your proximity to the Pacific coast. On approach into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), a cluster of color-changing, illuminated pylons marks arrival at the airport. These pylons, which were installed in 2000 to coincide with the Democratic National Convention, have become an identifying feature of the airport and are, in part, serving as design inspiration for a new series of improvement projects that are currently underway.



Credit: Thomas McConville

The current effort, dubbed the Central Terminal Area (CTA) Curbside Appeal Project, aims to extend the iconography of the gateway pylons through the rest of the airport using a light ribbon—LED strips mounted behind a glass fascia that sits at the edge of the upper roadway bulkhead and the canopy—that syncs with the changing colors of the entry pylons to create a cohesive lighting experience.

Light Poles
Along the roadway itself, 91 new light poles, lit with LEDs, replace the existing high-pressure sodium fixtures. These light poles—inspired by the ’60s style of the Theme Building and taking their sculptural form from airplane propellers—illuminate both the lower departures level and the upper arrivals level to create what designer Carlos Madrid calls “a celebratory procession moving through the airport.” HLB senior principal Teal Brogden describes the design process as emanating from “an aesthetic desire to create something that feels uplifting or upward-reaching, but also speaks in the vocabulary of the Theme Building.”



Credit: Courtesy AECOM


Light Ribbon
Expanding on that metaphor of the ocean, the light ribbon—synced to the gateway light pylons—will also feature color shifts that mimic waves. The HLB team captured video of the beach at sunset and fed it into a scrambler for the DMX control system, which abstracts the images across the broad pixels of the light ribbon to emulate an understated sense of motion.



Credit: Courtesy AECOM

In addition, from the same earlier project that brought the entrance’s gateway pylons came a roadside planter installed along the upper roadway edge. “That’s just been a maintenance issue for them … and it was never very lush with plants,” Madrid says. “So that is coming down, and will be replaced with the light ribbon that runs through the whole CTA on the edge of the roadway.” The light ribbon, now installed along the upper roadway bulkhead, will also be extended to both ends of the terminal roadways in upcoming phases, merging the experience with the gateway pylons.



Credit: Courtesy AECOM

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by Quixote

And some more good news...

Air France (all flights) and KLM will be moving to TBIT from shitty Terminal 2 in two weeks (March 30th). Alitalia will follow a month later (April 29th); Air New Zealand later this year.

Really? Where did you get info from? What about China Airlines, Air Canada, Aeromexico and along a few others? Do you think they will stay at entire terminal 2?

[Quixote]

^ From the LAX Wikipedia page; the LAWA website confirms the moves. You're confusing China Airlines (already at TBIT) with Air China. Maybe some more make the move once the rest of the Bradley gates open? I don't know.

[DJM19]

Look at the directory, it shows them moving this month.

Link

[caligrad]

All great news. I'm glad the midfield satellite will move forward since I heard for a while it was still debatable if it were to be built or not. The sky bridge though I wish they would reconsider, I think I'm one of the only ones who actually liked the sky bridge....even though I hated that it was off center and should have been centered between the Bradley terminal and the midfield satellite instead. If the sky bridge wont get built...than how will they connect the midfield terminal with the main terminal ? one thing I would hate is for them to decide to link the terminals with a tunnel.... people from around the world arrive to LA and know our history for having some of the best weather in the world just to be pushed underground right when they get off the plane? The sky bridge would have made LAX a unique airport, adding to the theme building, and also gave visitors a little preview of what LA had to offer as they walked across it (aka the weather).