Fly-Over Roadway to Improve Traffic Flow Near Chicago’s Midway Airport Opens to the Public
December 18, 1999 – The Midway Airport Terminal Development Program completes another major step with the opening of the new fly-over roadway, an elevated access roadway designed to improve the flow of traffic in and around Cicero Avenue near Midway Airport.
Motorists traveling southbound and northbound on Cicero Avenue will use the fly-over roadway to access the main entrance of the Midway Airport Garage. When the new Midway Airport Terminal Building is completed, travelers will also use the fly-over roadway to access the terminal curbfront.
"The opening of the fly-over roadway is another major step in the Terminal Development Program," said Thomas R. Walker, Commissioner, Department of Aviation. "The fly-over roadway is designed to separate airport traffic from local traffic to ease congestion on Cicero Avenue and allow for easier access into the Airport."
Motorists traveling southbound on Cicero Avenue will enter the fly-over roadway by a right hand exit lane. The roadway then travels over Cicero Avenue into the parking garage entrance. The entrance onto the fly-over roadway traveling northbound on Cicero Avenue is immediately after 59th Street on the right hand side.
New airport area signs will help direct motorists to either the fly-over roadway or other Airport parking options. Earlier this month, all economy parking lots changed to a uniform daily parking rate of $8/day. The new airport area signs now include daily rate information for economy lots and the garage.
"The new airport area signs are designed to help travelers make a decision on where to park and direct them to their destination at the airport," said Erin O’Donnell, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Aviation.
With the completion of the Midway Airport Parking Garage, which opened this past summer and the fly-over roadway, the next major step in the Midway Airport Terminal Development Program will be the completion of the new pedestrian bridge across Cicero Avenue, which is expected in Fall, 2000. Travelers will use the new pedestrian bridge to reach the existing terminal building from the parking garage. The existing pedestrian bridge will be torn down to begin construction on the new concourses.
The new Midway Airport Terminal and the concessions area, which will be located in front of the existing terminal building is expected to open in the first quarter of 2001. Crews have installed the exterior structural steel of the terminal building and are now installing the baggage handling systems.
The entire Midway Airport Terminal Development Program is expected to be completed in 2004 with the opening of the new 41-gate concourse. The $761 million Midway Airport Terminal Development Program is the largest public works project in Illinois. It is designed to match the airport’s facilities capacity with that of the airfield and create world class concessions, concourses and passenger areas. When completed, 17 million travelers will be accommodated at Midway Airport. By the end of this year, Midway Airport will service over 13 million passengers, a new record.
