LAX PASSENGERS ADVISED TO PLAN AHEAD, ADD EXTRA TIME TO REACH TERMINALS; UPCOMING UPPER LEVEL ROADWAY REPAIR WORK COULD CAUSE TRAFFIC DELAYS
Passengers and motorists are advised to plan ahead and add extra time for traveling to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) due to possible traffic delays from upcoming nightly construction of Phase 2 of the $32.4-million Second Level (Upper/Departures Level) Roadway Repair Project in the LAX Central Terminal Area. The roadway rehabilitation work is an important component of LAX’s multi-billion-dollar, capital-improvement program to modernize the airport and enhance the overall guest experience.
The Upper Level Roadway will not totally close during construction and passengers will always have access to terminals during construction. However, vehicle lanes will be periodically restricted and travelers could experience delays entering and exiting the airport, as well as when dropping off passengers in the late evenings and early mornings because of the work.
The 31-year-old roadway shows areas of surface cracks, spalling, deteriorating concrete and “shallow” reinforcing steel. The repair work and new layer of polyester concrete, that is relatively impervious to water, will give the roadway an expected useful life of another 30 years.
The project was scheduled between the busy summer and holiday travel periods at LAX to minimize inconvenience to travelers. Work will begin 11 p.m. on Monday, September 14 and be completed before Thanksgiving, weather permitting. The repair work is scheduled five to six nights per week. On Monday through Thursday nights, work will begin at 11 p.m. and end at 5 a.m. the following morning. On Friday and Saturday nights, work will begin at 11 p.m. and end at 1 p.m. the following afternoon.
To rehabilitate the roadway, the process will entail a six-step process:
· Extensive cleaning of the deck surface by abrasive, steel-shot blasting
· Application of crack and moisture sealant to the deck surface
· Overlay paving with polyester concrete approximately one-inch thick
· Application of topping sand, which adheres to the overlay paving material to provide a skid-resistant driving surface
· Installation of new rubber “boots” in roadway bridge joints
· Painting lane stripes and other markings
When the polyester concrete overlay paving work is performed, an odor similar to when fiberglass items are fabricated will occur. This is due to the liquid polyester resin mixing with aggregate to comprise the polyester concrete mixture. The smell dissipates when the mixture dries in about two hours. Although the smell will be noticeable, laboratory and field testing confirms the concentrations producing the odors are a very small fraction of maximum exposure criteria set by regulatory agencies. Nonetheless, a certified industrial hygienist will monitor the paving operation.
Each day, nearly 38,000 vehicles on average use the Upper/Departures Level Roadway, or less than half the total number of vehicles that enter the CTA daily.
During the roadway work, travelers can be dropped off on the Lower/Arrivals Level and take an elevator, escalator or stairs up to the Upper/Departures Level as an alternative. Though the Lower/Arrivals Level is not directly impacted by the repair work, it may experience more traffic due to the extra drop-off activity while the Upper Level work is underway.
The Second Level Roadway Repair Project began July 2014, and is scheduled to be completed in 2016. Phase 1, which was completed May 2015 before the busy summer travel season, involved repairing all roadway hinges to the Upper Level roadway from underneath. During the 10 months of Phase 1, nightly vehicle height restrictions and rotating lane closures occurred on the Lower/Arrivals Level.
About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX is the fifth busiest airport in the world and second in the United States. LAX served nearly 70.7 million passengers in 2014. LAX offers 692 daily nonstop flights to 85 cities in the U.S. and 928 weekly nonstop flights to 67 cities in 34 countries on 59 commercial air carriers. LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with over two million tons of air cargo valued at nearly $96.3 billion. An economic study in 2011 reported that operations at LAX generated 294,400 jobs in Los Angeles County with labor income of $13.6 billion and economic output of more than $39.7 billion. This activity added $2.5 billion to local and state revenues. LAX is part of a system of three Southern California airports – along with LA/Ontario International and Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.
