Salt Lake International Airport Development Thread

[wrendog]

Still don't like how small the actual terminal looks. Very limited frontage seems like it will be a nightmare for cars loading and unloading.

[UrbanDesign]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Still don't like how small the actual terminal looks. Very limited frontage seems like it will be a nightmare for cars loading and unloading.

Loading and unloading will be on different levels, and won't have any pedestrian crossings to slow them down. That will greatly help with pick-up/drop off times.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by UrbanDesign

Loading and unloading will be on different levels, and won't have any pedestrian crossings to slow them down. That will greatly help with pick-up/drop off times.

Yeah, I get that, but it's still such a small frontage compared to many of the other major airports out there.

[Liberty Wellsian]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Still don't like how small the actual terminal looks. Very limited frontage seems like it will be a nightmare for cars loading and unloading.

It's a lot bigger than it looks.

[Hatman]

Wrendog brings up an interesting point, so I got to Google Maps to measure out the distances. If the new design of the pickup/drop-off areas are really about as long as a SLC block, that means they are ~700 feet in lenght. Each, because they are on separate levels.
Then I measured the length of the pickup/drop-off area at the existing airport, and found that it was ~1350 feet in length. Subtract out the area of crosswalks and inefficient curvatures, and it will be even less.
So the new airport will have more space for cars than the existing. That isn't saying much, but there it is.
Then I started comparing that measurement with other airports in the area (Denver, Phoenix, etc) and pretty well came to the same conclusion as Wrendog. 700 feet each for pickup/drop-off is pretty sub-standard.
The good news is that it looks like the P/d areas can be extended in the future, based off renderings like this one:


Or, if all else fails, just take TRAX. Then it won't matter how crowded the P/d areas are!

[Liberty Wellsian]

Originally Posted by Hatman

Wrendog brings up an interesting point, so I got to Google Maps to measure out the distances. If the new design of the pickup/drop-off areas are really about as long as a SLC block, that means they are ~700 feet in lenght. Each, because they are on separate levels.
Then I measured the length of the pickup/drop-off area at the existing airport, and found that it was ~1350 feet in length. Subtract out the area of crosswalks and inefficient curvatures, and it will be even less.
So the new airport will have more space for cars than the existing. That isn't saying much, but there it is.
Then I started comparing that measurement with other airports in the area (Denver, Phoenix, etc) and pretty well came to the same conclusion as Wrendog. 700 feet each for pickup/drop-off is pretty sub-standard.
The good news is that it looks like the P/d areas can be extended in the future, based off renderings like this one:


Or, if all else fails, just take TRAX. Then it won't matter how crowded the P/d areas are!

If you look at the image I posted the faint white lines are the roadways including the pick up/drop off area. Each level is much longer than the terminal. They look to me to be about 1300 on each level not combined. Combined they would be closer to 2600 feet.

[Future Mayor]

I would also expect that the terminal building is designed to be added onto on each side when demand requires it. I'm sure they are evaluating the terminal size based on the announcement of the second set of gates. They obviously see the need for doing the north gates while they are building, and I guarantee that they know the exact number of passengers that the terminal can accommodate. Since they didn't announce a larger terminal, my assumption is that the terminal was designed to accommodate the north gates to begin with.

It's not like they simply said, "hey lets add the north gates" and didn't take the capacity of the terminal building into account.

[airportnoise]

Originally Posted by Hatman

Wrendog brings up an interesting point, so I got to Google Maps to measure out the distances. If the new design of the pickup/drop-off areas are really about as long as a SLC block, that means they are ~700 feet in lenght. Each, because they are on separate levels.
Then I measured the length of the pickup/drop-off area at the existing airport, and found that it was ~1350 feet in length. Subtract out the area of crosswalks and inefficient curvatures, and it will be even less.
So the new airport will have more space for cars than the existing. That isn't saying much, but there it is.
Then I started comparing that measurement with other airports in the area (Denver, Phoenix, etc) and pretty well came to the same conclusion as Wrendog. 700 feet each for pickup/drop-off is pretty sub-standard.
The good news is that it looks like the P/d areas can be extended in the future, based off renderings like this one:


Or, if all else fails, just take TRAX. Then it won't matter how crowded the P/d areas are!

The 700 feet is from the preliminary design and has been revised a little.
There will be 4 roads in front of the terminal. 1st the upper/departure roadway and roads 2-4 are at ground level with 2 of them being for commercial use only.
1.The upper/departure roadway is 1145 ft. long by 22 ft. wide with 3 thru lanes. This is an unload only zone.
2.Commercial Rd 1 (north road or closest to the terminal) is 950 ft. long by 12ft. wide with 2 thru lanes. This is an unload/load zone.
I think it is for shuttle and commercial type tour buses.
3.Commercial Rd 2 (middle road or 2nd closest to the terminal) is 700 ft. long by 12ft. wide with 2 thru lanes. This is an unload/load zone.
I think it is for taxis.
4.Arrival/general passenger pickup road (south road closest to the Gateway/parking garage) is 1100 ft. long by 22ft. wide with 3 thru lanes. This is a load only zone.
Arriving passengers will have direct access to this road from the 2 pedestrian bridges.
To visualize that length just use google earth and look at the Gateway Shopping Center in SLC. From 50 North down to 100 South along 400 West measures out to be 1100 feet long. Untimely only time will tell if was done right.

[Hatman]

That's good info. Thanks for sharing the specifics.
I am really excited to see this new airport take shape!

[wrendog]

KLM started their SLC flight. First scheduled international (non north american) bird at SLC

[San Diego-Honolulu]

Here are some updates on air service into the SLC airport...

Air Canada and Delta both begin their nonstop flights to Toronto this week

Delta is starting a daily flight to Miami beginning December 17th. American Airlines already flies SLC to Miami

Delta is beginning seasonal nonstop flights to Aspen, CO on December 17th

Southwest is starting new nonstop service from SLC to San Jose, CA with two daily flights beginning November 6th. They will be joining Alaska and Delta on the route

United is beginning one daily nonstop flight to Newark on December 16th. Delta currently offers SLC to Newark nonstop flights

[orlandopilot]

Does anyone have a sense of how well the SLC-LHR flight is doing thus far? If the Delta seating maps are any indication, it appears that on most days, the flights to and from SLC are leaving almost half empty. I would think that London would be a very popular destination. I know the route is only a month old but I really hope this route can survive. Maybe seating maps are not fully accurate as to how many seats have been purchased.

It does appear that the KLM service has been warmly received and doing well.

[wrendog]

Originally Posted by orlandopilot

Does anyone have a sense of how well the SLC-LHR flight is doing thus far? If the Delta seating maps are any indication, it appears that on most days, the flights to and from SLC are leaving almost half empty. I would think that London would be a very popular destination. I know the route is only a month old but I really hope this route can survive. Maybe seating maps are not fully accurate as to how many seats have been purchased.

It does appear that the KLM service has been warmly received and doing well.

Just for fun, I looked at the seat maps for LHR service on 05/31 to various US cities to compare to SLC.

It looked a bit worse than MSP and DTW, but better than SEA

edit: checked tomorrow as well... Better than SEA again, but worse than MSP and about the same as DTW

Looks like Business class is doing well out of SLC, so that's good.

[orlandopilot]

Originally Posted by wrendog

Just for fun, I looked at the seat maps for LHR service on 05/31 to various US cities to compare to SLC.

It looked a bit worse than MSP and DTW, but better than SEA

edit: checked tomorrow as well... Better than SEA again, but worse than MSP and about the same as DTW

Looks like Business class is doing well out of SLC, so that's good.

It just seems that the LHR service is really lagging behind AMS and CDG. AMS and CDG flights seem to be leaving at full or nearly full every day. I would think LHR would be a more popular destination than AMS.

[orlandopilot]

According to the airport website, SLC will be phasing out the smoking rooms in the current airport. They will begin phasing out the first room in summer and be complete by December of this year. They emphasize that the new airport will NOT have any smoking rooms. That seems like a change from earlier plans. Apparently your Mayor was behind the changes.

[ThePusherMan]

Originally Posted by orlandopilot

According to the airport website, SLC will be phasing out the smoking rooms in the current airport. They will begin phasing out the first room in summer and be complete by December of this year. They emphasize that the new airport will NOT have any smoking rooms. That seems like a change from earlier plans. Apparently your Mayor was behind the changes.

Bummer. I quite liked the smoking rooms. Thought it was a nice amenity. One more strike against the Mayor in my book.

[Future Mayor]

There are several airports that don't have smoking rooms.

[Wasatch Wasteland]

Actually, Salt Lake is one of the few major airports out there that still has smoking rooms.

[billbillbillbill]

Originally Posted by Wasatch Wasteland

Actually, Salt Lake is one of the few major airports out there that still has smoking rooms.

I think I heard the stat that only 7 major airports still have them and 2 others are phasing them out this year. One article I read said the justification was to free up areas for retail which is a lame excuse in my book since they will be tearing it down in 4 years anyways. Seems like it could have been a legacy that just went away when the new terminal opened.

[ThePusherMan]

Originally Posted by Wasatch Wasteland

Actually, Salt Lake is one of the few major airports out there that still has smoking rooms.

Most airports don't have them and that's why it's so nice that we do! Traveling can be stressful and sometimes you are traveling all day and all you want is a friggin cigarette. I'm not even a smoker and I have taken advantage of those rooms. Sure beats having to leave the airport and go through security again when you have a long layover.