The Savannah Airport Commission on Wednesday voted to spend $67,500 as part of a joint agreement with the Georgia Department of Transportation, Gulfstream Aerospace and the Outlet Mall of Georgia to ease traffic congestion at the I-95/Pooler Parkway/Airways Avenue interchange.
“With the continued growth of Gulfstream, the airport growth anticipated with JetBlue service beginning in February and the added traffic the new outlet mall will bring, traffic at that interchange — which is already bad, especially at rush hour — is only going to get worse,” said Greg Kelly, executive director of the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.
“Even now, the right-turn lane from the I-95 North ramp onto Airways Avenue is often blocked by traffic at 5 p.m.”
The state department of transportation has recognized the problem and plans to significantly widen the northbound ramp, Kelly said, but that won’t happen until 2016.
Meanwhile, the airport, Georgia DOT, the outlet mall and Gulfstream have come together to jointly fund interim improvements.
Those include adding dual left-turn lanes to the northbound exit ramp of I-95, extending the existing westbound left-turn lane on the bridge over I-95 for traffic onto southbound I-95 and adding a right-turn lane for eastbound traffic onto southbound I-95.
Two traffic signals also will be modified.
“This is an important project, something that will benefit everyone in the area,” said airport counsel Jimmy Blackburn, who praised Kelly for getting all parties on board and working with state transportation officials to get the permanent fix in the system so quickly.
Also on Monday, the commission approved an airport staff request to hold a lottery in January to add 10 full-service taxi permits and five conditional full service taxi permits to handle an anticipated increase in airline traffic.
“As of Dec. 31, the airport will be down to 44 full-service taxis,” said Lenard Robinson, director of parking and mobility services. “With current on-demand taxi needs and anticipated future requirements, we will need to add more permits.”
The full-service permits cover operation from 4 a.m. to last flight, while conditional full-service permits serve the needs of passengers from 4 p.m. to last flight.
The fee to enter the lottery will be $100, with a limit of five entries per company or independent operator. For companies or operators whose names are drawn, the entry fee will be transferred to their administrative fees, Robinson said.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the commission:
• Approved the naming of a new road in the North Aviation Development Albert “Bucky” Yellin Drive in memory of the late former airport commissioner who served from 1983 to 1990;
• Approved the budget for 2014 with anticipated total revenues of $25.03 million, expenses of $20.7 million and a net income of $4.3 million.