Airport Access Roads

[Joe The Dragon]

Will the western terminal be linked the to toll roads (seen in some plans) or just york rd to a small parking / waiting area (seen in other plans)?

and it may be dead http://www.chicagonow.com/dennis-byrnes-barbershop/2017/02/in-a-betrayal-of-chicago-promise-to-suburbs-western-terminal-disappears-from-ohare-expansion-plans/

The Western Access Terminal may never happen, but if it does, the future 390/490 junction is supposed to be engineered in a way that allows 390 to continue as a through road to be the Western Access Road to ORD

the tollway web site still has Constructing a new ramp providing western access into O'Hare via York Road listed but will that be done if it is dead?

Is this finale to add the ramps later one some may be very loopy And Is the I-294 part up to date? only show 4 lanes each after the I-490 ramps come off without much room to add lanes later one. I-490 may lessen the need for widening that part giveing them time to run down the leases on the o'hare oasis. May have to wait for the finale tri state planes to come out.
https://www.illinoistollway.com/documents/20184/239152/4_EOWA_ConceptPlan_WesternAccess_I-294/66b561cc-8d23-43cd-8756-80d3334d646d?version=1.0

[cpzilliacus]

In DC we have a bit of contrast. All routine traffic to IAD must use the Dulles Access Road, even if just going from VA-28 to the airport grounds. There is a "back door" entrance via Old Ox Rd, but that is for authorized personnel only.

I believe that is incorrect.  It's perfectly legal for anyone with airport business to enter from VA-606 (Old Ox Road) via VA-950 (Ariane Way) even though there's no signing on VA-606 showing it as an entry point to the airport, and there are signs informing drivers that the road is not state-maintained and that it is not legal to use the road for "other uses." What is not legal is for drivers to use that route to shunpike the tolls on VA-267 (Dulles Toll Road) by using the "free" Dulles Airport Airport Access Road. Note that a stop at the Sunoco station on the airport property on Rudder Road makes such a trip legal.

National Airport (DCA) has off-ramps from the GW Parkway (highway access) and a local road access from Crystal City (apt named "Airport Access Road). The airport is within walking distance from the Crystal City neigborhood via Airport Access Road and the Mt Vernon Trail (which parallels the GW Parkway).

The road from the Crystal City area of Arlington County (VA-233, one of the shorter Virginia primary system highways) is the only route into and out of DCA for truck traffic, which may not use the George Washington Parkway. The Mount Vernon Trail also has a spur that leads directly into Crystal City for biker riders and pedestrians.

[AlexandriaVA]

In DC we have a bit of contrast. All routine traffic to IAD must use the Dulles Access Road, even if just going from VA-28 to the airport grounds. There is a "back door" entrance via Old Ox Rd, but that is for authorized personnel only.

I believe that is incorrect.  It's perfectly legal for anyone with airport business to enter from VA-606 (Old Ox Road) via VA-950 (Ariane Way) even though there's no signing on VA-606 showing it as an entry point to the airport, and there are signs informing drivers that the road is not state-maintained and that it is not legal to use the road for "other uses." What is not legal is for drivers to use that route to shunpike the tolls on VA-267 (Dulles Toll Road) by using the "free" Dulles Airport Airport Access Road. Note that a stop at the Sunoco station on the airport property on Rudder Road makes such a trip legal.

I stand corrected...if you make a right turn on Materials Dr, a left on Autopilot Dr, and then a left on Rudder Rd, the general public can access the airport road system. However I doubt many do.

[lepidopteran]

What is not legal is for drivers to use that route to shunpike the tolls on VA-267 (Dulles Toll Road) by using the "free" Dulles Airport Airport Access Road. Note that a stop at the Sunoco station on the airport property on Rudder Road makes such a trip legal.

My understanding is that before the Dulles Toll Road was built, commuters would routinely stop at the airport hotel and get a newspaper.  That constitutes "airport business", does it not?  (The signs say "Airport Passengers And Business Only")  I once saw a portable VMS promising a fine and points to "backtrackers", I think it said.  And then there were the infamous Burma Shave-style signs that went something like:

"This road here... is for airport users... don't risk a ticket... from our police cruisers"

You know that discussion about the (likely cancelled) western terminal at Chicago O'Hare?  According to a long, long-term master plan I once looked at, there was once such a plan for Dulles as well.  The second terminal would be at the south end, probably with access from US-50 (this was in the days before the Udvar-Hazy center, though I'm not sure where it was relative to that).  The existing underground peoplemover would make a complete circle to get there, and there would be at least one more midfield concourse in addition to the 2 they have now.  I doubt we'll ever see that.  The only airport I know of, at least in the USA, to manage to add a second terminal at the opposite end of the field is Atlanta.

[mapman1071]

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Has Semi Direct Freeway access at both ends:

West end: In from I-10 EB Out to I-10 WB
(Access to EB/From WB I-10 Is via Buckeye Rd/24th Street/Copperhead Drive) 
Sky Harbor Blvd is a hybrid Expressway with Flyovers, Ramps and U-turn Access for Terminals 3 & 4 as well as a interchange at 41nd St/42nd St to access American and Southwest Operation Centers/Hangars. Access to Terminal 2 is via a one way Access road WB from I-10 (Right Turn) & Buckeye Rd (Direct Access), EB access via U-turn road.

East End:
Strange 3/4 Interchange/Intersection with 44th Street (Former AZ 153 - Sky Harbor Expressway)
2nd Strange 3/4 Interchange with AZ 143 - Hohokam Expressway (With Access to I-10 E/W and AZ Loop 202 West)
1/2 Trumpet & Butterfly Diamond To Loop 202 EB/From Loop 202 WB and Priest Drive N/S and Center Parkway NB only.

[PHLBOS]

Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) has a major interchange with I-95 (which included stub/ghost ramps for the long-since-cancelled I-695/Cobbs Creek Expressway).  From I-95 South, ramps for both the Departures & Arrivals roadways were part of the interchange since it opened circa 1985.  The airport's also accessible from PA 291.

Prior to late 2000/early 2001, access to PHL from I-95 North required one to use Exit 10 & get on PA 291 eastbound, where there would be ramps to the Arrivals/Departures roadways roughly a mile away.  Prior to reaching airport property, one encountered a couple of traffic lights along the way.

After late 2000/early 2001, a new ramp (Exit 12) from I-95 northbound was constructed to provide non-stop access (no traffic lights) to the airport. 

However, many Delaware County taxi-cab companies will still recommend/utilize Exit 10 because the total distance traveled is shorter than the new ramp (which crosses over I-95 twice).  One cabbie referred (circa 2004) to the new ramp as the $5 ramp meaning the fare would be $5 higher than using Exit 10.

[Beltway]

How are they in your area? Specifically I want to know about how you actually get onto the airport property.

Richmond International Airport (RIC) has Airport Drive, a 4-lane high-speed arterial that is 6 miles long and serves businesses and residences along its route between VA-895 Pocahontas Parkway and I-295, and it also connects with I-64 and US-60 Williamsburg Road.

Airport Drive connects with the arrival and departure roads that connect to the airport terminal, and with airport parking garages and parking lots, and rental car lots, and air cargo terminals.  The terminal is 2 miles south of I-64 and 3 miles north of VA-895, and access is easy and with little or no congestion.

There is an air national guard facility on the east side of the airport property, that is accessed by a local road, Beulah Road.

There are airport personnel access points from Portugee Road, Charles City Road, Beulah Road and US-60 Williamsburg Road.

[sbeaver44]

Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) has the Airport Connector (SR 3032) that is a 55-mph freeway with 2 exits connecting to PA 283.  PA 283 is a 65-mph freeway that connects to I-283 and I-76/PA Tpk at its western end and the US 30 freeway in Lancaster at its eastern end. 

Local traffic can access from PA 230 either by using the interchange with the Airport Connector, or using Airport Drive from PA 441 Truck.

The Airport Connector is one of my favorite PA freeways, because it still has text based BGSs in some places.  Also, going southbound, one gets a straight on look at Three Mile Island.

Nexus 6P

[cjk374]

Shreveport Airport pales in comparison to the sizes of the ones mentioned above. Maybe that's why access is much easier. It is right off of I-20 (exit 13-Monkhouse Drive), south 2 blocks. That's it...you're in.

Monroe is almost just as easy. Off I-20, north on Garrett  Rd. to the end; left on Millhaven Rd., then the very next right on Kansas Ln. Airport will be a little ways down on the right.

[1995hoo]

Dayton International Airport in Ohio has a relatively short freeway-grade access road from I-70.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.8819758,-84.2089475,5702m/data=!3m1!1e3

What I found more interesting were the various aircraft designs in the overpass supports just east of there at the I-70/I-75 interchange.

[CtrlAltDel]

What is not legal is for drivers to use that route to shunpike the tolls on VA-267 (Dulles Toll Road) by using the "free" Dulles Airport Airport Access Road. Note that a stop at the Sunoco station on the airport property on Rudder Road makes such a trip legal.

How likely are you to get caught shunpiking the Dulles Toll Road if you don't make a token effort to perform some "airport business"? Do they monitor traffic in some way, or do they pretty much rely on the honor system?

[roadman65]

Orlando Airport just finished a new connector freeway from FL 417 that previously used Boggy Creek Road with a couple of signals.  However, once the new south terminal is completed two fully operational signals are going to be inside the terminal complex with one already there that has been at the south remote parking and cell lot for some time already.

The north access road does connect to State Road 528 with a free flowing connection to Orlando's freeway system.  528 connects to the Florida Turnpike and I-4 and FL 417 and several miles east to I-95 at Cocoa.

Sanford Airport has a surface route connection to FL 417 but not that hectic though.

[lepidopteran]

Some airports in Ohio.

Toledo Express Airport (TOL)
The only "access road" here is an at-grade intersection with SR-2, a.k.a. "Airport Highway".  The traffic count doesn't really call for much more than that.
What is worth asking, though, is: how does one access the airport from the city of Toledo?  At first, the closest freeway access was the SR-2 exit from I-475/US-23.  Much of the 6 miles from there to the airport entrance was upgraded to near-freeway standards, but there were lots of at-grade intersections.  East of the interchange, SR-2/Airport Highway was just another 4-lane arterial.  As such, to get from downtown to the airport, you had to take I-475, a roundabout routing in either direction.  I got the feeling the city was trying to fortify Airport Highway as an express route in minimal ways. I also seem to recall a news report that said it would take all of 13 years to build a freeway between downtown and the airport.  Eventually, sometime in the '80s I think, better access was attained by building two new exits off the Ohio Turnpike/I-80/I-90 -- one with I-75, not far from downtown, and one literally across the street from the airport (yes the turnpike was always there, it just never had an exit there for some strange reason).  Previously, the two local exits (or "gates" as they called their entrances), 4 and 5, at US-20 and not-interstate-grade-till-the-80s I-280, were inconveniently located at best, at least for most of the city.

Dayton International Airport (DAY)
The airport's main access is by a 4-lane divided highway, with at least one at-grade intersection for cargo and other aviation business.  The road ended at a signalized T-intersection with US-40, until a freeway-grade access road was built between I-70 and the airport in the early 1980s.  The Airport Access Road (known only as that in traffic reports; it has no route number whatsoever AFAIK) includes a diamond interchange with US-40, and has a trumpet interchange with I-70 that favors travelling to/from the east, as it's only about a mile from the I-75 interchange.. I did once see a plan that suggested a loop ramp would be added for one of the US-40 movements.  That same plan suggested some sort of interchange with the cargo access road, but that's just an at-grade now.  Rumor has it the diamond with US-40 might have to be moved if one of the runways is lengthened.
The access road caused some confusion in its earlier days, since the signs leading to I-70 listed only Columbus and Indianapolis as control cities, leading some out-of-town visitors to wonder where Dayton was (got on the wrong plane?)  I think some small signs pointing to Dayton were added to lampposts and such.

John Glenn Columbus (formerly Port Columbus) International Airport (CMH)
The main access road is called "International Gateway".  It's 4-lane divided, but has multiple at-grade intersections serving various parking lots and side businesses.  Originally, International Gateway ended at a signalized T-intersection with Stelzer Rd.  There was a diamond interchange between Stelzer and a short US-62 freeway spur leading to I-270, but the signs on EB I-70 said to take James Rd. (which turns into Stelzer, sort of) several busy blocks and multiple signalized intersections north.
That all started to change in 1984, when ground was broken on an eastern extension of I-670 to get to the airport (I-670 itself has quite a history of its own, but beyond the scope of this post).  I-670 was extended from I-71 downtown to meet the US-62 freeway, taking it over all the way to I-270, with at least one improvement to the (underpowered?) 62-270 interchange.  The Stelzer Rd. exit was eliminated altogether.  Also included of course was a freeway spur leading to the end of International Gateway -- the interchange here is surprisingly complicated, given its sharp angle and the also-included ramps to Cassady Ave. and 17th Ave., not to mention a surface road cutting through everything.  So by about 1992, you could take a freeway from downtown to International Gateway... with a signalized at-grade intersection at Stelzer Rd.?  Whaaa?  But don't worry, some 20 years later the Gateway would largely be rebuilt, with an enhanced diamond interchange worked into the design.

[bzakharin]

Since the big ones are taken:
Atlantic City (ACY)
Despite being close to the Garden State Parkway and very close to the Atlantic City Expressway, the only access route is Amelia Earhart Blvd, a 4-lane road, whose southern end is one of NJ's famous traffic-lit traffic circle with one road cutting through, and whose northern end is the FAA facility just beyond the airport entrance. From the circle, depending on which way you're going there is at most one other light before Atlantic City Expressway access, which sets you back an extra 75 cents vs other exits in the area. Freeway access is supposedly planned, though I haven't heard much about that for awhile.

Trenton-Mercer (TTN)
This one is on a grid of local streets accessible from the north, south, and west. It's also accessible from I-95 (soon to be 295) without a traffic light and only a single left turn.

[ChezeHed81]

Tampa International Airport (TPA)
The access road to TPA is one of my personal favorites.  The interchange which ties into SR-60 (limited access expressway) and Spruce St (surface arterial) was rebuilt between 2006 and 2009.  The outbound sign for the direct connection to I-275 SB has a warning plaque of "NEXT EXIT 10 MILES" due to the Howard Frankland Bridge.  I also appreciate the reuse of infrastructure elements like the roadways that that pass under the in-bound carriageway.  The one connecting Economy Parking Rd to the outbound roadway used to be outbound too, but was converted to inbound for access to the economy parking structures, cell-phone waiting lot, and the future CONRAC from SR-60 NB.  Likewise, the connection from Airport Service Rd to the outbound roadway was converted to 2-way with a traffic signal, and although the inbound bridges appear to have been re-decked, the original structures seem to have been retained.  I give this roadway bonus points because it leads to the most convenient short term parking structure that I know of which is located directly above the airport terminal.

Fort Myers (RSW)
The Midfield Terminal had a good connection system to I-75 at Daniels Pkwy and Alico Rd via Treeline Ave, but recently also received a direct connection with I-75 utilizing C/D roads with the Alico Rd exit.

Miami International Airport (MIA)
The ramps to SR-112 alongside S Le Jeune Rd are reversed carriageways with oncoming traffic on your right.

Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
This airport appears to have a good access road layout (from aerial imagery experience only) which separates traffic to the two terminal buildings but has a common exit flow from both of them.  Traffic to T2 crosses over the outbound roadway to flow clockwise around the terminal building.

[bing101]

for SFO in South San Francisco, CA to get to the airport you had to enter and Exit via US-101 or I-380.

[Aerobird]

Tampa International Airport (TPA)
The access road to TPA is one of my personal favorites.  The interchange which ties into SR-60 (limited access expressway) and Spruce St (surface arterial) was rebuilt between 2006 and 2009.  The outbound sign for the direct connection to I-275 SB has a warning plaque of "NEXT EXIT 10 MILES" due to the Howard Frankland Bridge.  I also appreciate the reuse of infrastructure elements like the roadways that that pass under the in-bound carriageway.  The one connecting Economy Parking Rd to the outbound roadway used to be outbound too, but was converted to inbound for access to the economy parking structures, cell-phone waiting lot, and the future CONRAC from SR-60 NB.  Likewise, the connection from Airport Service Rd to the outbound roadway was converted to 2-way with a traffic signal, and although the inbound bridges appear to have been re-decked, the original structures seem to have been retained.  I give this roadway bonus points because it leads to the most convenient short term parking structure that I know of which is located directly above the airport terminal.

This is, it's worth noting, part of a rather complex interchange system involving I-275, TOLL-589, FL-60, and FL-616.

[bing101]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCWgI18_Y5w&t=615s


Trans Canada phil has this

[lepidopteran]

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
This airport is unique in that it has TWO freeway-grade access roads.

• The Van Wyck Expressway (I-678).  The southern end of this highway leads into the airport core.  It also has an interchange with the Belt Parkway, but with access primarily to and from the west.  As such, most passengers from New York City use this route.
• The (aptly-named) JFK Expressway.  Originally a surface street leading to the Rockaway Turnpike (148th Street?), this was upgraded to a freeway sometime in the 80s, I think.  There's a directional interchange with the Belt Parkway to and from the east, so this route is mostly used by those originating from eastern Queens and Long Island.  At the on-ramp from the Belt Pkwy is a rather unusual BGS, reading "Passenger terminals 2.5 miles ahead".  Have you ever seen a BGS use decimals for mileage, rather than fractions?

For those not familiar, JFK Airport consists of a loop of separate terminal buildings; there were once as many as 9 (not counting the former Tower Air terminal, outside of the loop in the cargo area), but now there are "only" 6.  Originally, there was a divided, mostly at-grade "loop road" serving the terminals, with 2 or 3 direct-access ramps to the Van Wyck.  Today, with two access roads entering coupled with haphazard improvement of loading zone curbs (in particular, several of the original terminals did not have the traditional 2-level separation for arriving and departing passengers; today they all do), the core is a confusing labyrinth of roadways and parking structures.  While these roads mostly make use of grade-separated ramps, there are also a handful of traffic signals present; unlike the standard NYC guy-based mast-arm, these are held by those "ribbed" cantilevers similar to what you find in most of NJ.  Other signals are atop simple stanchion poles.

One unique feature of the access roads is the "color code" found on the signs.  With so many terminals, each building was assigned a number from 1 through 9 (*), along with a color to help motorists navigate.  Originally, back when NYC's BGS's were actually black text on an off-white background, the directional signs for each terminal had the text/number and the sign outline in that color, probably with button copy.  The appearance of several of these signs, side-by-side on of the overpasses looked, shall we say, unique.  Later on they tried to make these standardized with a traditional green background, with the color relegated to a small square around the number (if there was a color at all).  More recently, though, the colors returned -- as the whole sign background.  But now they seem to assign color only by sector, rather than by individual terminal.
https://goo.gl/maps/phy5jVheMoz

In early 2017, a new grandiose plan for JFK airport was unveiled by Governor Cuomo.  Looking at the renderings, this would reduce the number of terminals to only 3, through consolidation and reconstruction.  But it also looks like they plan to eliminate the JFK Expressway access road.  The plan is to convert the interior roadways back to a simple ring road, and to widen the Van Wyck access road (and presumably, improve the Belt Parkway interchange to better handle traffic from both directions).

(*) When Tower Air had their terminal, its "number" was "T".  Additionally, there used to be both a "1a" and "1b" sign.  I think these referred to the East Wing and West Wing of the old International Arrivals Building.  When the terminals were renumbered, I believe it became "4e" and "4w".  The IAB has since been demolished and rebuilt, and is now known as Terminal 4.

[TheStranger]

A few California ones, which have been mentioned before but with some more detail:

- San Francisco: While the current set of ramps to the International terminal date to the 1990s, the main direct-to-freeway airport loop connection to US 101 (and I-380) has existed since the 1950s, based on a HistoricAerials search (a 1946 overhead - around the time construction for the Bayshore Freeway began - shows almost nothing in that area, in comparison).

- Oakland: Airport Drive/98th Avenue provides a connection to 880/Nimitz Freeway, however 98th has four intersections from 880 west to Airport Access Road before reaching the limited-access routing to the terminal loop.

- San Diego: Though today's setup involves using the surface arterial Harbor Drive to get to the terminals, the pre-1975 configuration had much more direct access from the old US 101 freeway stub Pacific Highway (which connects to today's I-5) which abuts the north perimeter of Lindbergh Field.

- LAX: A bit of a hybrid, using the 105 west to 1 north (Sepulveda) route through the airport tunnel does allow one to access the airport without reaching a stoplight.

[MASTERNC]

CVG (Cincinnati) has a loop around the airport property but access to and from I-275 is through a partial cloverleaf, with some signals.  There is also an intermediate exit that leads to rental car lots and airport services.

[roadman65]

I like Houston's Airport where the access roads pass beneath the terminal and when you are a passenger crossing from the main facility to the airside gates you use a skybridge (already screened so its all sterile above the outside world) and one of them even has a food court where you look down on cars heading in and out of the drop off and pick up roads.

The new Midway in Chicago also has the terminal now across the street from the airport itself using bridges carrying the passengers across Cicero Avenue,  You enter the airport terminal on the east side of the street.  Go up one level to the second floor to then cross Cicero to the gate area on the west side of the street.  The access roads are short as the distance from the terminal to the street is very short and has no long drives.

NOLA uses a road paralleling US 61, the main road the airport is on, to access I-10.  It then connects to the interstate connector that doubles as a local road between both the US highway and interstate.  Then this road runs parallel to the easternmost N-S Runway until as has a partial directional interchange with I-10 only with access to and from the east.  To and from the west, Veterans Blvd must be used and a series of turns to complete it all.

[triplemultiplex]

I have a mild obsession with 3 digit interstates that serve airport terminals.  I like it.  I go out of my way in my fictional mapping to add them to airports where it seems practical.  Because of their inter-modal connectivity, I try and put as many airport spurs on the I-system as I can.  As long as they have at least one interchange between the parent interstate and the terminal or are of a certain length, I 'upgrade' them.

It's one of my 'things' to have all beltways and all airport spurs be 3di's. Details are best saved for the fictional section, though.

[cpzilliacus]

What is not legal is for drivers to use that route to shunpike the tolls on VA-267 (Dulles Toll Road) by using the "free" Dulles Airport Airport Access Road. Note that a stop at the Sunoco station on the airport property on Rudder Road makes such a trip legal.

How likely are you to get caught shunpiking the Dulles Toll Road if you don't make a token effort to perform some "airport business"? Do they monitor traffic in some way, or do they pretty much rely on the honor system?

MWAA airport police will monitor the appropriate entrances to the airport and follow possible suspect vehicles through the airport to the other side, and stop them if they do not engage in "airport business."  They do this at least in part because shunpiking costs MWAA a lot of lost toll revenue, so it is in their economic interest to identify and stop such violators.

[SD Mapman]

Well, all the SD airports are tiny, so access is all local roads. RAP is on a two-lane road, FSD is almost in downtown Sioux Falls, ABR is off of US 12 on the east side of town, ATY (Watertown) is off of SD 20 on the northwest side of town, and PIR is off a two-lane road with no shoulder (I've run on it).