SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s largest airport is growing once again.
Salt Lake City International Airport’s third construction phase is complete, as five new Concourse B gates and a central tunnel connecting passengers through it opened on Tuesday. The expansion opens the door for an additional 21 Concourse B gates that will open over the next few years.
A formal celebration will begin at 10:30 a.m.
The central tunnel is often referred to as the “river tunnel” because artist Gordon Huether — the man behind most of the art installations at the airport — designed it to mimic the streams and rivers that flow between canyon walls.
Entrance and exit points are at the ends of mirroring canyon wall installations he constructed for both concourses.
On top of building on the natural landscape aesthetic, airport officials say it should trim travel times for passengers with gates at Concourse B because they won’t need to walk halfway through Concourse A to reach the only tunnel connecting the two before this week.
Those who head to Concourse B will also be reunited with the world map from the old Salt Lake City airport, which crews finished installing at its new home earlier this year. A new art installation called “Northern Lights” has also been installed, hovering between the new canyon walls and over the world map.
Bill Wyatt, director of the Salt Lake City International Airport, previously described the third phase of construction as the “beginning of the end” of construction tied to the initial plans. Crews will now shift their focus entirely on filling out Concourse B, which is on pace to be completed by the fall of 2026.
“We can see our way to the finish line,” he said in April.
Future growth, such as a Concourse C and a tram connecting passengers to it will begin once the airport reaches a passenger volume threshold. That could happen in the next decade.
This story will be updated.
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