Airport Weighs Growth Plans Workshops, Meetings Help Consultants Develop Strategies

A group of airport and urban planning consultants are at Spokane International Airport this week as part of the facilities terminal area planning study.

Airport officials are studying how to expand the airport facility to accommodate present and future growth. The planning process began in February, and extends through June, but a series of workshops that began Thursday and extend through Saturday are an integral part of the process, airport officials said.

According to officials of 3E Design Group P.S., which is responsible for managing the study and compiling its results, this series of workshops and several meetings of community organizations will be the basis for the findings, conclusions and recommendations that will be made in June.

Among the issues being studied are:

Transportation between the airport and surrounding communities.

Short-term and long-term parking.

Signs and other forms of communication inside and outside the terminal.

Baggage handling.

Security screening.

Use of space within the terminal area.

Land use and development in proximity to the terminal.

In the meantime, some terminal expansion projects are already under way. Today construction crews will tear down the outer wall along the airport’s C concourse and replace it with a temporary wall during a project to expand that concourse.