In an effort to improve passenger drop-off and pick-up locations, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) will make several changes to its ground transportation system in 2019.
- Beginning Monday, Feb. 18, rideshares such as Uber and Lyft as well as city taxis and limos will be permitted to use the upper and lower roadways for pick-up and drop-off.
- Starting on Feb. 21, the current commercial vehicle drop-off location adjacent to baggage claim 11 is returning to the taxi pick-up location.
- CLE will create a new drop-off area at the north end of the baggage claim which will accommodate all hotel and off-site parking shuttles and staging for limos starting March 1. Shuttles have not had access to the roadway for pick-ups and drop-offs since 2015. This new procedure will help minimize the impact of traffic on our roadway.
- The current Ground Transportation Center will temporarily close for a multimillion-dollar reconstruction project which will dramatically improve the customer experience and navigation to the terminal. The construction will begin once a contractor has been selected and a contract has been signed.
- Additional changes are being made at the shuttle drop-off site to better accommodate our guests. This includes passenger assistance and customer service representatives who will be stationed inside the building at the drop-off location for passengers requiring additional assistance. These improvements are necessary due to increased passenger traffic at the airport. CLE had 500,000 more passengers last year and anticipates an increase of at least another 500,000 in 2019. Our passenger footprint has transformed dramatically from our hub days when 30-40 percent of our passengers were connecting.
Also, after the All-Star Game, CLE will begin work on the upper roadway expansion joints. This project is expected to take 100 days and will involve roadway constrictions on the lower roadway throughout the course of the project.
With our increase in passengers and the combination of increased Origin and Destination passengers meaning guests boarded or deplaned in Cleveland, we have 3.6 million more people coming through our doors and driving on our roadways than we had during the last year of the hub operation in 2013.
