Cleveland Hopkins International Airport officials have announced several upcoming changes to ground transportation at the airport that will begin next week.
Recently, the city announced that they were reversing the pickup and drop-off policy that went into effect Jan. 1. Since then, passengers paying for transportation have been dropped off at the south end of the airport at Arrivals instead of curbside in front of their airline on the Departures level.
Starting Feb. 18, airport visitors arriving by services such as Uber and Lyft, as well as taxis and limousines, will "be permitted to use the upper and lower roadways for pickup and drop off."
Later in the week, starting Feb. 21, the Commercial Vehicle Drop Off will return to its former location at the Taxi Pickup Area.
On March 1, a new area will be created for drop offs at the north end of Baggage, according to airport officials. This area will be for limo staging as well as housing all hotel and off-site parking shuttles. Shuttles haven't had access to roadway pick-ups or drop-offs since 2015, according to the airport. These changes will "help minimize the impact of traffic" on the airport roadway, officials said.
Another incoming change will happen when the airport temporarily closes the current Ground Transportation Center for a reconstruction project that will "dramatically improve the customer experience and navigation to the terminal." A start date is pending the selection of a contractor, officials said.
The airport will also have workers available to assist visitors and passengers who require additional assistance. They will be staged inside the airport near the drop-off locations.
After the All-Star game in July, airport officials say work will begin on upper roadway expansion joints. The project is estimated to take a little over three months to complete. During construction, there will be roadway constrictions on the lower roadway.
Airport officials said the changes were prompted from an increase in passenger traffic at Hopkins. Around 500,000 more passengers traveled through the airport in 2018. Officials said they expect another 500,00 additional passengers in 2019.
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