Construction on Omaha’s Eppley Airfield expansions set to begin in coming months

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - 2023 will be another busy year for Omaha’s Eppley Airfield as changes are on the way both inside and outside of the airport.

Several major construction projects that are part of the airport’s master plan are slated to begin as travel continues to increase through the city.

Pre-COVID-19, about five million travelers passed through Omaha’s Eppley Airfield.

“We’re not quite back to that yet but we are getting much closer to that,” says Steve McCoy with Eppley Airfield. “We anticipate air travel to continue to grow from here on out so we want to be able to accommodate that growth.”

To do just that - Eppley will begin the next phase of its master plan in the coming months.

It started in 2021 with the airport’s entrance, and now, their focus is shifting to the terminal drop-off area.

“Just like we did expand the roadway from Abbott to the terminal, now we’ll take it here in front of the terminal by expanding, adding additional capacity,” McCoy says.

McCoy says the additional lanes will help improve the efficiency of traffic as cars move through the drop-off area.

$20.9 million in federal funding from the newly passed infrastructure bill will help get the project done. Nebraska’s Don Bacon and Deb Fischer both voted in support of the bill, which allotted millions of dollars to airports across the nation.

The changes in the next phase of Eppley’s plan don’t just create more lanes and expand capacity, but it will also offer protection from weather for those going in and out of the airport.

“We’re looking at a full canopy coverage that would cover all the lanes of traffic and keep travelers out of the elements here at Eppley Airfield,” McCoy adds.

After that construction begins, officials with OMA say travelers will soon begin to see changes inside the airport as well, as the terminal modernization project kicks off.

“The terminal modernization program is still under design, but we’d anticipate construction to begin possibly at the end of this year or early next year.”

Construction at the airport’s drop-off will last about 18 months.

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