West Michigan's unpredictable weather and a predicted shortage of parking space prompted
Gerald R. Ford International Airport leaders to break ground on a $114 million parking ramp that provides covered pedestrian access to and from the terminal.
Airport spokesperson Bruce Schedlbauer says that foresight could attract more airlines to Grand Rapids, connecting West Michigan to more opportunities that could bring increased business travel and vacationers.
"If a low cost carrier is looking at coming into Grand Rapids they'll say: 'We will attract X number of customers, do you have a place for them to park?'" Schedlbauer says. "'No' is not the appropriate answer because they want to know their customers are taken care of."
Construction on the $114 million, 4,700-space parking ramp began 18 months ago and will wrap up in November. Short- and long-term parking, valet parking and rental car pickup and return services will all be under roof.
The four-story structure includes escalators and elevators in the ramp and in the terminal that lead to two enclosed pedestrian skybridges linking the two structures. A graceful wave-look glass canopy covers a span of roadway between the terminal and the parking ramp.
The ramp's construction is the last remaining goal of the airport's 20-year master plan. Schedlbauer says that to wait until more parking is needed would put the airport years behind in preparing for expected growth – growth, he says, that is supported by air traffic patterns predicted by national experts.
"We've outpaced the national [air traffic] volume quite often (for comparatively sized airports)," Schedlbauer says. "During peak travel times, there were times when we would start to reach capacity in the former parking areas."
Source: Bruce Schedlbauer, Gerald R. Ford International Airport
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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