Central LAX Parking Lots Reopen Today

Mayor James K. Hahn announced Friday that Los Angeles International Airport’s central terminal area will reopen to private traffic this morning, but warned travelers to brace themselves for congestion and tighter security measures.

“We imagine there will be quite a lot of traffic problems as we work out the bugs,” said Hahn at a morning news conference at the airport, where he announced that the central parking lots and terminal road will reopen today at 5 a.m.

“If we all work together, we can make this airport very efficient, very safe, and we hope it is going to be an enjoyable experience for those who will be flying again,” added the mayor, standing with airport and law enforcement officials outside an LAX parking garage.

The opening of the central terminal area, closed since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was greeted with relief by several hundred parking lot attendants who have been worried about their jobs. But passengers will face more stringent safety measures, including random vehicle searches.

And officials concede that snarled traffic is sure to accompany the reopening.

Officials said that is a price worth paying.

“The balance has to weigh in favor of security,” the mayor said. “So if there’s inconvenience--and there will be inconvenience associated with this--we believe security has to be the top priority.”

Hahn said private vehicles will be restricted to the far left lanes of the double-deck terminal road and will not be allowed to drive up to the terminals to drop off or pick up passengers. Barriers have been installed to prevent people from driving over to the curbs.

Instead, cars will be directed into six multilevel parking lots, where traffic could quickly back up as people stop to drop off passengers, officials acknowledged.

Because of this, officials urged travelers to continue to use public transportation, commercial vehicles and a passenger drop-off center on Airport Boulevard, from which passengers can take shuttle buses to the terminals. Parking Lot B, which temporarily housed passenger drop-off, will revert to a long-term parking lot.

The parking lots can accommodate some private vehicles, “but it’s going to be difficult,” airport Police Chief Bernard Wilson said. “The ones who are really going to cause us grief are the ones who are going to stop in the aisles. . . . That may be the best thing for them and their passengers, but it’s going to be the worst thing for everybody else.”

Airport officials said they will have additional police and parking employees on hand to deal with the influx of private traffic, adding that they hope traffic jams will be minimal because only about half as many passengers as usual are using the airport.

The reopening of the central terminal area comes after several false starts in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, as airport officials came close to giving the go-ahead and then pulled back because of security concerns.

“I think those issues have been resolved; otherwise we wouldn’t be standing here talking about opening it up,” said Wilson. “And we are prepared, if need be, to close it down again as soon as we need to. But I think we need to give this a try.”

Officials have been eager to reopen the parking lots to restore some convenience for passengers and get attendants and cashiers back to work. The airport has lost more than $4.4 million in parking revenues since the attacks.

The decision to open the central terminal area to private traffic was made late Thursday afternoon by Lydia Kennard, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, after consulting with the mayor, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Los Angeles Police Department and the airport police.

Hahn said the airport will have tougher security measures in place to screen private vehicles, including random car checks in parking lots, explosives-sniffing dogs and increased police patrols.

In addition, three streets leading to the airport will have police checkpoints, where some vehicles may be pulled aside and searched.

Hahn said the arrangements outlined Friday will properly balance convenience and security.

“If you want to make this airport 100% safe, you close it down,” Hahn said. “And we don’t want to close down an airport.”

The reopening may bring new difficulties, but is a boon for the several hundred parking employees who feared that they would lose their jobs if the central terminal area remained closed. Many of them have been working at the temporary passenger drop-off at Lot B and directing traffic inside the airport for the last few weeks, but did not know if they would get their regular jobs back.

“Everything was temporary since Sept. 11, so hopefully this puts some permanence back in some people’s lives,” said labor leader Miguel Contreras.

On Friday, many cashiers were back in their booths, preparing for today’s opening.

“I’m so happy that we still have our jobs,” said lot attendant Ruki Bholat, who had worked for only four months when her job was thrown into limbo.

Meanwhile, Hahn said he has urged state and federal officials to reconsider the use of the National Guard troops who have been deployed to airports to monitor baggage screening.

Hahn said he wrote to Gov. Gray Davis, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, asking them to consider allowing the troops to perform other duties, such as patrolling the airport perimeter.

The obstacle to making that change, the mayor said, is that the FAA has agreed to reimburse states for the cost of the National Guard troop presence only if they are guarding the baggage screening.

“If we can get the FAA and the administration to understand that we can use those troops even more effectively, maybe we can get them to change that and expand their mission,” Hahn said.

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Times staff writer Jeffrey L. Rabin contributed to this report.