Fewer spaces could bring more free parking at airport
Bad news first. Construction at McCarran International Airport recently displaced about 1,100 economy rate parking spaces.
The good news? People who need to park for a weekend at the airport are more likely to be sent to overflow parking near the Thomas & Mack Center, which is free.
Changes at McCarran are sending drivers to the overflow lot more often, including four weekends already this year. And McCarran officials expect to use the overflow lot nearly every weekend throughout the remainder of the summer travel season.
The regular economy lot, which costs $6 per day, lost spaces when construction on a third terminal started in July. The terminal will have 14 gates and is expected to open in 2011.
"The thing that is driving this boat is the construction of Terminal 3," airport spokesman Chris Jones said.
On Memorial Day weekend, 250 would-be economy parkers were diverted to the overflow lot. The weekend of July 21 that number increased to 965.
In addition to fewer spaces in the economy lot, the airport is seeing more passengers. More than 23.6 million people arrived or departed from McCarran through June, an increase of nearly 5 percent from 2006.
To accommodate more fliers and offset the loss of parking to construction, McCarran is adding several thousand spaces by Thanksgiving. One new parking area will have 5,000 to 5,400 spaces and another will have about 1,900, Jones said.
Considering there are regular shuttles to the terminals from both the economy and the overflow lots, some drivers might prefer getting bumped to the Thomas & Mack-area lot because it saves money.
But drivers don’t have a choice. They won’t get sent to the free lot until the economy lot is full.
Given construction and increased traffic at McCarran, Jones suggested people consider leaving their cars at home when they leave town. At a minimum, Jones said, they should budget plenty of time before flights for parking.
"You can’t just assume when you show up at the airport that the parking space you want is going to be available," Jones said.
