MIDWAY — An 80,000-square-foot expansion of Midway Airport's security pavilion will modernize the airport's security checkpoint and is expected to cause travelers fewer headaches, city officials said.
City and airport officials on Friday broke ground on a $104 million project to build a new security pavilion at the airport. The pavilion, which spans Cicero Avenue, will increase in size from 50 feet wide to nearly 400 feet wide, the city said.
It will double the Transportation Security Administration screening capacity and allow the agency to incorporate new technology into its practices. It also will be a more welcoming and efficient facility to air travelers, officials said.
"Our investments in security, the first step in Midway's modernization, are more important now than ever before," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
Set to be complete by 2019, the new pavilion will be seven-times wider than Midway's current security checkpoint, officials said. That will allow TSA agents to screen 5,000 passengers per hour, doubling the existing capacity of 2,500, according to the city.
Lines at security checkpoints at both of Chicago's airports have plagued travelers. The problem came to a head in spring 2016, when Emanuel brought in hundreds of more TSA agents to help aid the "breakdown."
Midway's security checkpoint was built before Sept. 11, 2001, before security at airports changed dramatically. The new facility will modernize the operation and allow the TSA to automate many of the security procedures passengers go through, a TSA official said.
The pavilion project is one of the biggest components of the city's $323 million modernization project for the airport. Other plans for the airport include a massive overhaul of its concessions and an addition to its parking garage.
The end product will be a dramatic transformation of the airport, which not long ago had fewer flight options and even buckets in the concourses collecting water from leaky ceilings, said U.S Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
"I remember not long ago when Midway was down to nothing," he said. "Now, look at it. This is an extraordinary airport."
The project will not only boost security and passenger convenience, it will benefit the entire Southwest Side, officials said. The pavilion will have space for 18,000 square feet of concessions, and once the entire project is done, 1,700 new jobs will need to be filled, officials said.
"With our passengers' experiences top of mind, security improvements like these continue to be a focal point as we embark on major development projects to ensure our airports are prepared for growing traveler volumes in the years ahead," a news release stated.
The pavilion's expansion will be divided into three phases to minimize the impact on Cicero Avenue traffic, the city's Department of Transportation said. Rolling, partial lane closures during evening hours will start as soon as next week, according to CDOT.
For information on the project and its impact on the public, click here.
A rendering of the new security pavilion [City of Chicago}
