The plan to tear down and rebuild the parking decks is one of the airport’s largest and most disruptive projects planned in its more than $11 billion master plan, and is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take a decade to complete.
Officials have said when the project is finished, the airport will have new decks to last perhaps half a century and improve airport access.
The contracting process underway now is to find a company to demolish the South domestic terminal parking deck, Delta Dash office and South parking office, and construct replacement South decks.
The contract also includes the potential expansion or addition of a new international park-ride deck, “and any further identified construction repairs and/or new parking decks,” according to the request for proposals.
The domestic and international terminal parking decks reach capacity during busy periods. A structural engineer recommended the aging domestic parking decks be replaced because they are nearing the end of their useful life. The South parking deck is more than 40 years old.
The Atlanta airport has already started building a new seven-level South parking deck on the site of the old South economy lot, which closed last October. The new deck will be used to replace lost parking when the deck next to the terminal are torn down.
The airport also in 2021 opened the ATL West deck and ATL Select park-ride lot, but none of those options are as convenient as the decks right next to the terminal.
The airport also in the last couple of years closed portions of the parking decks in phases, to shore them up in preparation for them to be partially used during the years-long project to tear down and replace the decks in stages.
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