Take Off Earlier to Land a Parking Space at the Airport

Starting next month, trips through John Wayne Airport will become more time-consuming and stressful as the county embarks on a $25-million expansion of the two parking structures adjacent to the main terminal.

The work will temporarily deprive airport visitors of 719 prime parking spaces directly across from the main terminal, delaying travelers who will have to park in outlying lots and take shuttle buses to catch their flights.

Some rental car operations also will be relocated during the construction, which is expected to worsen traffic congestion as people adjust to the changes, officials said Tuesday.

“Our typical business travelers are on a tight timeline and are used to arriving 15 minutes before their flights, grabbing a parking space and racing into the airport,” said Kathleen Campini Chambers, a spokeswoman for John Wayne Airport.

“That won’t be possible with this construction,” she said. “And we don’t want people to miss their flights.”

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors approved the plan to add nearly 2,000 spaces to the parking structures, as well as a $119,000 contract for a public relations campaign designed to soothe harried airport visitors and help travelers navigate around the construction.

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The county hopes to prepare travelers for the changes by using direct mail to frequent users, running radio and newspaper spots, and handing out flyers at the airport. Electronic sign boards will direct people away from parking lots that are full, saving them a fruitless trip around the terminal road.

The airport is also introducing valet parking, expected to cost an extra $5 per day, to save passengers time.

Besides making parking faster, the service will shuttle passengers from the outlying parking lots to the terminal within 5 minutes--at least 10 minutes faster than the regular shuttle buses.

“This construction will bring more traffic, missed flights and raised tempers,” Supervisor Thomas W. Wilson said. “We have to be prepared.”

Over the next 20 months, workers will add two floors atop the two parking structures, situated on each side of the main terminal. Half of the construction should be completed by next August, when some extra terminal parking will become available.

Chambers said much of the heavy construction will be completed at night to minimize disruptions and noise. Early plans called for one lane of the main terminal road to be closed periodically, but Chambers said the airport now hopes to avoid any lane closures.

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The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to move forward with the construction but split 3-2 on the public relations campaign, which will be handled by Adler Public Affairs.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer, who opposed the proposal along with Supervisor Jim Silva, said the selection process wasn’t fair to all bidders and questioned why the company with the lowest bid wasn’t selected.

But other supervisors defended the process, noting that Adler’s final $119,000 price is less than half of what it originally proposed.