MINNEAPOLIS — Security checkpoints at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are about to get a makeover.
The $18 million plan calls for the consolidation of four checkpoints into one 10-lane checkpoint aimed at improving efficiency. The new checkpoint at Terminal 1, also known as the Lindbergh terminal, will provide more space along the conveyor belts. It will also include an expanded area for passengers who are reconfiguring their items as they exit security.
The project was approved Monday by the Metropolitan Airports Commission. Construction is set to begin in April.
"Terminal 1-Lindbergh was designed decades ago to have six narrow checkpoints leading from its ticketing lobby to the airport mall and concourses," commission spokesman Patrick Hogan said. "That design was sufficient pre-9/11, when magnetometers and X-ray devices were the primary pieces of security equipment, but now they have full-body scanners and lots of other security equipment."
The goal of the renovation is to decrease security wait times to 12 minutes or less, Hogan said. The expanded checkpoint, modeled after a similar six-lane one at Terminal 2, will be able to handle 150 more people per hour, according to airport officials.
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The improvements are expected to be complete in March 2016.
