Construction at Edmonton airport seeing travellers walk through parkade to and from terminal

Construction at the Edmonton airport is going to make things tricky for all travellers into 2024.

Major upgrades underway at the original departures zone means the pickup and drop-off points have changed.

The departures area next to the terminal will be fully closed to all traffic. The lower-level arrivals area will be closed to personal vehicles; it will be open only to commercial vehicles and passengers needing accessible access.

Travellers being dropped off or picked up now need to walk three to six minutes through the parkade.

The airport is asking departing travellers to arrive 15 minutes earlier than they normally would to account for the change.

Temporary arrivals zone due to construction at Edmonton International Airport on Sept. 26, 2023. (Adrienne South, CityNews)

Speaking to CityNews Tuesday, airport officials said they were surprised by how well traffic was flowing. They’re hoping Edmontonians can quickly get used to the changes.

While walking through the parkade is one thing during September’s mild weather, the airport says it has a plan to keep passengers warm come wintertime.

“From November to April, we will have shuttles from this area dropping people right off at the terminal curb,” said Margeaux Maron, the director of external relations at EIA. “We have also ordered some warming huts and we have some rest benches throughout the parkade for your journey through.”

Maron says the airport also added a family drop-off and pickup to assist anyone with mobility issues or larger items like strollers.