by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:20 AM ET, Thu October 11, 2018
New York officials announced Wednesday that Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal A will be replaced by the future Terminal 1, a project that will cost an estimated $2.7 billion.
According to The Associated Press, the 45-year-old Terminal A is the least used of the three terminals at the New Jersey airport and was only designed to handle nine million passengers a year. Last year, the terminal welcomed around 11 million passengers.
The overcrowding has caused travelers to complain about "unacceptable congestion at the curbside check-in, long lines at the lobby check-in and security checkpoints, undersized passenger hold room areas, inconvenient and an insufficient number of concessions and bathrooms," according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Gates at Terminal 1 are expected to partially open by late 2021, with the entire facility becoming fully operational by the end of 2022. The original Terminal A will be demolished and the new facility built to the south.
"Our New Jersey and New York airports must be 21st century gateways befitting the importance and stature of the metropolitan area," Port Authority director Rick Cotton told The AP.
The New York airports are undergoing other major changes as well, including an $8 billion redevelopment of LaGuardia, a $13 billion makeover of John F. Kennedy International Airport and $30 million to expand Stewart International Airport.
"When we open, we'll be able to pull all of that traffic from (Terminals) B and C, so actually the building of Terminal 1 will help traffic because we'll be pulling 11 million annual passengers off that roadway network," Newark airport program director Catherine Cronin said.
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