The Los Angeles World Airports Board of Commissions voted on Thursday to spend $1.5 billion on a new road into the airport.
The LAX People Mover is estimated to cost $1.5 billion per mile (that’s building it, not including operating costs).
- Phoenix airport’s Sky Train Stage 2 comes in at $300 million per mile.
- Orlando’s South People Mover clocks in at $340 million per mile.
Since this is just a road LAX gets 4.4 miles for the $1.5 billion price. But Orlando might get that distance of a people mover not just a road.
At $341 million per mile of road (for structures, ramps, demolition, utilities, landscaping, etc.) this seems like 2–5× what you’d expect in a normal U.S. city for this kind of road work. And U.S. work is more expensive than global norms.
- Compass International gives elevated major freeway, 4 lanes, urban U.S. at about $68 – 71 million per mile.
- The Federal Highway Administration suggests urban freeway lanes cost around $8 to 15 million per lane-mile, so a 4-lane facility is on the order of $30 to 60 million per mile for non-elevated work.
That triangulates around $60 to $70 million per mile. Let’s add in recent construction inflation, and add a premium for airport work, so double it and you’re looking at $140 million per mile, or $616 million total. LAX is spending $1.5 billion. Nashville airport just spent $137 million on their roadway project.
To be fair, projects at a live airport are hard. They involve constant phasing and strict safety and access controls.
Add in a long, litigation-prone environmental process under the National Environmental Policy Act and California Environmental Quality Act, which create veto points and leverage for myriad agencies and community groups and endless design studies and re-studies; layered agency involvement (LAWA, City, County, Metro, Caltrans, FAA, TSA, CBP, utilities); significant “mitigation” and community-benefit obligations (noise walls, aesthetic treatments, workforce agreements, local hire, disadvantaged business goals); and high local construction wages union agreements and you get LAX costs.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
And this isn’t even touching on how utterly absurd the new layout is. I understand the purpose is to increase the length that cars can queue in before they reach the horseshoe so that traffic will flow smoother, but this spaghetti soup is not the answer. Insanely overcomplicated, ugly as all sin, and has a bunch of last minute switch-overs that I guarantee will cause endless confusion and driver’s trying to cut in to long lines at the last minute.
Also, why can’t they add a budget for making it beautiful? This is the first impression travelers will get upon entering Los Angeles. Add some fricken palm trees please?
Seems expensive, but, as Gary says, “projects at a live airport are hard. They involve constant phasing and strict safety and access controls.” I’m confident there more about this than just the salacious price tag and low number of miles. Oh, and I fully expect anti-climate, blue state/city, California-bashing, which, fellas, is just silly.
Sometimes it’s just easier to build an entirely new airport Somewhere Else.
Dear Mr Leff, a friendly word of advice, please remove this article.
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The People’s Republik of Kalifornia strikes again. Highest fuel prices in the nation. They lost a Congressional seat for the first time in state’s history as people and companies continue to flee the grasp of Newsom
When you consider that CA has spent nearly $30 billion on homeless and homelessness has only gotten worse this all makes sense. Everyone is on the take. I was in Balboa Park last month. I remember when I first visited back in 1997 how blown away I was. Today? Homeless everywhere. Buildings in poor repair. More Newsom success.
How deep is MediCal in debt? Keep raising those taxes Newsom as more and more companies and taxpayers flee the state.
As a country, we just don’t have the ability anymore to build great things (infrastructure, buildings, etc) in an efficient manner. Every single project is now a bonanza for maximum extraction of leverage and profit by each interest group involved (see unions, politicians, government agencies, construction companies, developers, investors). The end result is massive corruption, kickbacks, inflated costs, and lower quality.
Standard government waste, trash. Disappointment as ever.
Why does there need to be a road all the way to the terminals of an airport? And this won’t probably be built for another decade or two which makes the “road” concept even more outdated.
I wonder if the point is to get rid of the current entrance from Sepulveda Blvd southbound and turn that parking lot it skirts into a new terminal?
@Coffee Please — My dude, California, by itself, is the 5th largest economy in the world, $4 trillion in 2024 (that’s $4,000,000,000,000); California’s GDP per capita is higher than any other large state and all countries except the US, China, Germany, and Japan. Throw all that shade, but, your talk is cheap.
More stupidity at LAX. They spend absurd amounts on a people mover from a mile and half away. Months (perhaps a year?) before the people mover opens, they delete all public bus service adjacent to the airport. People going north or south on Sepulveda have to walk or take a shuttle bus a mile east to the new Transit Center, then take a bus back west. Oh, and walking south isn’t possible at all because there are still no pedestrians allowed in the Sepulveda tunnel under the runway.
It’s all such a waste of fuel and time. If there’s one consistent policy, it’s to add travel time and inconvenience to the customer experience.
I flew into LAX about two weeks ago. The customer experience on the whole was about the usual. Customs and immigration was very quick. Just smile at the camera and I was on my way. Waiting for luggage took a lot of time but the Asiana A380 I was on carries a lot of passengers so that also has a lot of luggage. I exited the Tom Bradley Terminal doors and looked for the Fly Away to Van Nuys. I didn’t see it after walking a bit in one direction so I reversed course and went the other way. I finally saw it and was afraid it would leave before I go to it but the bus drive was great. Even though he had all of the other passengers onboard and was seated, he got out again to take my luggage and stow it underneath before boarding again. I ended up giving him a tip at the end of the ride, something that I don’t always do. Then from Van Nuys it was an Uber home.
Ain’t it just like California to have no money to house its massive homeless population, yet have plenty of money to build a road to help people to the airport to flee the state..
It’s more like 400 to $500M for the road work, and $1 billion in graft for the politically connected socialists in LA and California.
The worst part is there is no pushback from the people. They will still keep voting for these corrupt representatives.
Anyone in LA area now? Heard the rain recently has been intense. Be safe!
@jcil, that’s exactly correct. The amount of money that mysteriously disappears out here is insane
Bash California all you want . How many of you actually live here or have lived here?
I am a 52+ year resident and would not live anywhere else.
We are not 5th largest economy in the world for nothing.
We have survived blue and red governors and will continue to do so.
@1990
Good. Then maybe the LA fire hydrants will become useful again. Hee! Hee!
Did they bother asking the passengers? Getting cars even approach to terminal is a crazy idea, there should be a large parking lot several blocks away with a shuttle overhead and it should be no cars at all going to the terminal entrances except for emergency vehicles probably cost about 1/10 that way.
@Coffee Please — Weak. A real master of the dark arts would take advantage of a tragedy to benefit special interests, say in Big Ag… Central Valley (nowhere near LA) needs more water (for almonds, alfalfa, etc.); screw those endangered species!
The Japanese should have skipped Pearl Harbor, bombed LAX and they would have done us all a favor
@George Romey…. What’s Newsom got to do with San Diego’s Balboa Park? Blame San Diego’s Mayor for that.
@Chris from Venice Beach — I have rarely seen such vivid self-loathing on here. I will not ‘yuck’ others ‘yum,’ but, like, ‘sheesh,’ mah man… and ‘oof’ and ‘yikes.’
How’s the train to nowhere (browndoggle, boondoggle) going?
@ThatOtherOtherGuy and @Julius Rosen,
Exactly! There are so many excellent opportunities that getting cars away from the terminals could offer – e.g. a pedestrian promenade, with various public amenities and/or an event space (like what Munich has).
There are also security benefits if cars are kept away from the terminals (e.g. it drastically reduces the risk of what happened at Glasgow Airport in 2007).
No surprise, CA always manages to get everything to cost more. Extreme regulations, taxes and fees is just a start.
@Marlin Yoder — Still better to live and work there than much of the country or the world; I’d pick California over Mississippi or Moldova, any day. Unlike ‘red’ cities and states, Los Angeles actually supports its workers, still cares about the environment, and is capable of big projects, like rebuilding airports, and hosting the Olympics. (Yeah, I wish they’d get that high-speed rail done, for real. Get on it!) The state is a global economic juggernaut in-part because it is willing to take on the high costs of building a complex, dense, and socially conscious society. I get it, that must feel confusing if you don’t live in a prosperous city or state. Perhaps, there are things we can learn from this particular project, for better or worse, and try to improve.
@IAlreadyLeftCA — Bye Felicia!
More corruption from the Democrat led Land of Fruit and NUTS.
Gary is 100% correct that spending this amount for a legitimate airport road project is NOT normal.
There’s no way the pricing is legitimate. All those bribes and kickbacks must be extra costly.
CA is infamous for the boondoggle train to nowhere where after 16 years and 15 billion dollars nothing was built. This fraudulent project was audited by the Feds and shut down in July.
If federal funds are involved, I hope the U.S. Transportation Secretary audits this project too.
@OnePatriot77 — You’re kidding, right? Take off the horse-blinders. The epitome of corruption in this era is literally the President. Need a list of his ‘mis-deeds’? Sheesh. His use of the office for personal financial gain, abuse of power and obstruction, rampant cronyism and politicizing of the government, and excessive pardons, just to start. Want specifics? January 6. Ukraine. Emoluments. Qatari jet. Base in Idaho. Just a few to get you going. None of that’s right. The fish rots at the head, man.
Here’s where we (may) agree: Sunlight cleanses (transparency matters). So, please do audit. But do it regularly for all cities and states, red, blue, purple, not just your perceived enemies (in the state with the almonds). Yeah, accountability may slow things down further, but if there’s actual corruption, let’s uncover it, actually prosecute, and stop it from happening, everywhere. Top to bottom. Or, are you just a rabid partisan? Oh…
@1990 we seem to be political opposites but I still like you because you help make this travel blog fun and amusing to read. This has nothing to do with our President so I’ll leave him out of it.
LAX is my home airport. Sure I want it improved and for the never ending construction to be completed. However, not at this SCAM price. Yes to sunlight and transparency on all tax payer funded projects everywhere. I’m tired of being abused as a tax payer. Maybe you are too. I pay $11K in property tax for my very average house. 10.5% sales tax. The highest gas taxes in the nation. Super high Income tax, etc.
@OnePatriot77 — Ok, fair enough.
As to LAX, I’ve had better experiences recently at the international terminal, new DeltaOne and SkyClub at T3, and the spacious United Club at 7 is decent; but, woof, American at T4 has to get its act together (First Dining STILL closed… c’mon), and those tunnels… yikes. With your renovations there, I just hope they get it all done in-time for the Olympics. We want it to look nice, and work well for all those visitors. Point of national pride.
In the NYC area, we just got through major renovations at LGA (which took about 5 years, and were equally frustrating, and expensive); Newark Terminal A is nearly done (waiting on new Amex lounge there). Those finished products are worthwhile. JFK is in the thick of it right now, gonna probably take through 2030 there (new terminals at 1, 5/6/7). And, eventually, Newark will have a new Terminal B/C, but that may be until 2040. These things do take time.
It is literally the most congested 4 miles in the entire country, and the traffic can’t stop while they build the new highway in exactly the same area. It’s absolutely nothing like building a new highway- Gary’s analogy is broken. JKF is spending $3.9B on roads and infrastructure, and it’s a much simpler problem, because it’s not as congested an airport.
And the upgrades are desperately needed. I thought the people who read this blog are frequent fliers- do you really enjoy travelling through some of the worst airports in the world?
Tirade said, I do agree with some of the earlier comments that more creative thought is needed to reduce the congestion. Building more roads won’t help, and they are really just spending all this money to create longer waiting areas for people to get into the LAX loop. The fundamental problem is the original configuration of the terminals is just not viable for the number of passengers now going in and out. It’s frequently taken me over 40 minutes to get from the entrance of LAX to the International Terminal, which is probably a mile.
This is a good article looking at the problem. One of the best thoughts I saw in the comments is to overhaul the central parking structures to create one bigger parking lot, perhaps with passenger pick up and drop off- that works at SFO and LAS… https://simpleflying.com/shape-lax-core-problem/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20biggest%20problems%20in%20expanding,loop%20is%20to%20introduce%20more%20transit%20options.
While moderating my earlier comment, if you could put back in line breaks before “Tirade aside” and “This is a good article” so I don’t sound like a raving lunatic, I’d appreciate it. Somehow the moderation deletes the line breaks.
Also just discard this comment.
https://simpleflying.com/shape-lax-core-problem/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20biggest%20problems%20in%20expanding,loop%20is%20to%20introduce%20more%20transit%20options
@George — Thank you for adding your perspective here.
I agree that SimpleFlying is a lot less ‘sensationalist’ with their posts (and comments).
I frame Gary’s viewpoint as that of someone based in Austin, Texas, framing this and most content for an audience of mostly right-wingers, who hate anything California. Great for ‘clicks.’
So, your use of facts, critical analysis, etc. are not gonna ‘work’ on those types. You can and should probably challenge and mock them, because, well, it’s fun.
As you correctly said, JFK (sic) is spending far more on its roads and infrastructure improvements; it’s certainly hell-ish while they rip everything apart, yet, as I said above, in the end, it’s worth it.
Anyway, perhaps the almighty ‘Thot Leader’ will make those edits to your earlier comment (that you requested in your second comment.) If not, don’t sweat it too much.
I always consider clogged traffic at LAX when I go there and I adjust my schedule to accommodate it. A major accident on a freeway getting to LAX is more of a concern. I have never missed a flight there. I am hoping that the people mover eases congestion somewhat.