b'SECURITYABE 35in the opposite direction to navigate thefor $3.5 million, and Sheward was asked same multilevel course to retrieve checkedto design a new connector that would luggage and access ground transportation.meet the airports needs for the next two Under normal circumstances, thedecades and beyond. The project went checkpoint was frequently backed up; butout to bid in November 2020 during congestion became much worse duringthe height of COVID, signaling just how COVID, even with fewer passengersdetermined ABE was to resolve its security traveling. In a cruel but accurate joke,checkpoint and passenger flow problem. some referred to the tunnel checkpoint asPassenger volume post-COVID the TSA chokepoint.validated the decision to move forward The tunnel was designed as merelywith the project. In 2020, passenger traffic a walkway before we got into screeningat ABE dropped to 390,764, the first time passengers and long before TSA, Stoudtit dipped below 400,000 since 1972. In explains.2021, volume rebounded to more than The need for752,000 passengers, and the total hit changes was912,256 last year.underscored in 2017,Looking back, Sheward says the when Airport Authorityairport considered more than 10 options leaders met with TSAfor a solution before the design of an to discuss the needelevated connector with more intuitive for a third screeningMICHAEL SHEWARD wayfinding was approved. The connector lane. Working withadded 40,000 square feet to the terminal architect Michael Sheward, principalcomplex, with ceilings up to 24 feet high at The Sheward Partnership LLC, theyto easily accommodate TSA scanning ultimately determined the tunnel could noequipment.longer work for screening passengers.The new terminal connector/TSA Even if Michael was able to performcheckpoint has space for up to four a miracle and get three lanes in thislanes of TSA security screening, and underground location, we still had issuesmore direct, intuitive flow for passengers. with the overall heightabout 9 feet,Now, they go through security and take Stoudt notes. We normally think about terminal complex in 1997; and a multi-yeartechnology making things smaller, lighter, renovation and improvement project for themore compact. In the world of securityAIRPORT DESIGN main terminal was completed in 2012. screening with TSA, the equipment keepsCONSULTANTS, INC. Despite tremendous passenger growthgetting larger because they keep adding capabilities to it. Were enhancing whatCONGRATULATIONS TO LNAA ON THE throughout the years, passengers continuedwe can do in those security screeningABE TERMINAL CONNECTOR!to use the original tunnel to get from thecheckpoints, but the technology is getting main terminal to all departure gates andtaller and wider.vice versa. Navigating from check-in to a departure gate required going down aStaying Committedlevel to the TSA checkpoint, which was squeezed into the tunnel, and then going upThrough COVID A FOCUSED LEADER as many as two levels, with all passengersFormal planning for construction of the newIN AVIATION CONSULTINGneeding to use a single escalator or smallsecurity checkpoint/terminal connectorSERVICES SINCE 2006elevator. There were no stairs in case thebegan in 2019. A year later, when thePlanning|Design|Program Managementvertical transportation wasnt workinganpandemic struck, the Airport AuthorityConstruction Management & Inspectionissue addressed with system redundancydid not waver from its commitment to in the new terminal connector. Compliancefix the checkpoint issues. Upon touring with Americans With Disabilities Actconstruction of the terminal connector lastConnect with Us!standards was also improved.year, U.S. Department of Transportationwww.adci-corp.comSecretary Pete Buttigieg complimented Another complicating factor was thatthe airports leadership and called theBaltimore, MD (HQ) New York, NY the tunnel could only house two TSAinvestment a leap of faith. Allentown, PA Charleston, WVConinedelphia, PA Dallas, TXcheckpoint lanes in order to leave enoughPhlact With Uson LinkedIn and visit our webpageThe Airport Authority secured a grantRonkonkoma, NYroom for arriving passengers travelingwww.adci-corp.comfrom the PennDOT Bureau of Aviation AirportImprovement.comSeptember 2023'