Countywide : Plans Begin for More Parking at Airport

With demand for parking often outstripping supply, officials at John Wayne Airport are moving forward with plans to add two more levels to a parking structure at the front of the main terminal.

The county will spend about $1 million to complete designs for the project. Officials said it will cost about $22 million to build the new parking levels.

Additional parking is needed to accommodate the ever-increasing number of passengers who pass through John Wayne Airport, spokeswoman Pat Ware said.

At least 7 million passengers are expected to use the airport this year, compared to 4 million passengers who used it in 1990.

Once design plans for the parking structure are completed sometime next year, county officials will decide how to finance construction. Ware said officials hope that the Federal Aviation Administration will help pay for the project.

The $1 million in design work will come from the Airport Operating Fund.

The project will double the size of the east parking structure, which now consists of two levels.