"Commuters use Phoenix airport as shortcut"

Friday, October 20, 2006

Commuters use airport as shortcut 
Sky Harbor officials frustrated with extra vehicles in the area
BY Ginger D. Richardson
The Arizona Republic


Every day, tens of thousands of Valley residents cut through Phoenix Sky
Harbor International Airport in hopes of avoiding congestion on local
freeways.

Some believe it really does shave a few minutes off their eastbound or
westbound commutes. Others do it just for the mental boost: They say it's
better to be moving slowly but steadily rather than sitting in a virtual
parking lot on Interstate 10 or Loop 202. 

But now Sky Harbor has had enough. As many as 25 percent of the cars at the
airport don't need to be there, and those vehicles are making it more
difficult for travelers to get to the curbside check-in areas and passenger
drop-off zones. 

"This is absolutely killing us," Deputy Aviation Director Jane Morris said.
"We just can't handle all of these people."

But finding a workable solution is a real challenge.

That's because Sky Harbor, which saw a record 41.2 million passengers last
year, has seven entrances and a half-dozen exits. And it's one of the only
airports in the country that can be accessed by six different freeways or
roadways.

"I just don't think we anticipated this would be a problem several decades
ago," Assistant Aviation Director Carl Newman said. 

"If you follow a freeway, you get to the airport, which is great. But that
is also the bad news. It causes a major failure during rush hour."

Commuter Matt Gidley, a 31-year-old south Phoenix resident, drives through
Sky Harbor an average of twice a week as a way to avoid heavy congestion on
Arizona 143.

"If I leave much after 4:30 p.m., I use the cut-through," Gidley said,
adding that the route saves him "about 10 minutes and a whole bunch of
frustration on the way home."

Congestion and security

Newman said the airport first started noticing cut-through traffic in the
mid-to-late 1990s. The problem has worsened as the Valley's population has
grown. 

In fact, a traffic study conducted during summer 2005 found that on an
average weekday, more than 83,000 cars zipped through the terminal areas.

Almost 21,000, or 25 percent of them, were cut-through commuters.

The extra cars are most noticeable during the morning and evening rush
hours, Newman said, but the airport is seeing an increasing amount of
traffic throughout the day.

In fact, the route has become so popular that one Valley media publication
even dubbed it the "Best Shortcut Through Rush Hour Traffic." 

But airport officials see it differently. They say the extra vehicles are
causing congestion problems and could pose security risks as well.

"It just makes it more difficult to focus on vehicles that could be a
problem," Newman said.

Tollbooths and signs

Most of the nation's large airports have only one entrance or exit, or are
configured in a cul-de-sac fashion that forces drivers to leave the same way
they come in.

Two exceptions are Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Washington
Dulles International Airport near the nation's capital.

Sky Harbor has looked at both for ideas on how to solve its traffic problem.

DFW features dozens of tollbooths on its northern and southern entrances.
They were put in place when the airport opened in 1974 and were designed as
part of the air- port's parking system, public affairs manager David Magana
said.

Today, every driver who enters the airport must stop at the booth and get a
ticket. Those who leave the grounds in eight minutes or less are charged $2.


Those who spend between 10 and 30 minutes there, presumably dropping off or
picking up a passenger, are charged half that amount.

"We have adjusted the prices accordingly, so that those who want to use it
as a cut-through . . . it is more of a fee," Magana said.

Dulles has taken a different tactic. That airport has simply posted signs
that say, "Airport traffic only," at its entrances, Morris said.

Finding what works

Sky Harbor is still trying to decide what would work best here. The city has
already added additional lanes near the terminals.

But they say reconfiguring the airport's roads to create the cul-de-sacs
that force drivers to enter and exit from the same direction is out. 

It would take up too much space and cost too much.

They are looking at parking plazas or tollbooths, but they fear building
those could cause backups on Valley roadways, particularly on the airport's
eastern edge, at Arizona 143 and Arizona 153. 

Signage is a possibility, but officials aren't sure whether it would be a
deterrent.

"I don't have the answers," Morris said. "But we definitely need to look at
all of our options."

It will likely be several months, or even up to a year, before any
recommendations are made.

In the meantime, Valley residents like Mike Lentino say they will use Sky
Harbor as an alternate route as long as they are able.

"It takes a predictable amount of time to get through there," said Lentino,
who lives in Tempe. 

"If you are on the freeway, you just never know.

"I didn't think this was (a secret that was) going to last too much longer,"
Lentino said.

 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************