lhl12

Massport has created a new website and PR program to communicate with the public about a series of improvements being made to Logan. The campaign is called "Logan Forward" and you can access it at Logan Forward. The website is very good, including lots of renderings and animations.

The major components of the program include:

1. Creating a consolidated Uber/Lyft dropoff/pickup point in the Central Parking garage - no more dropoffs curbside.
2. Rebuilding the roadway between Terminal B and C to eliminate the traffic jam created when too many people are trying to enter Terminal C at the same time others are trying to exit terminal B
3. Creating an airside connnector between terminals B and C (including demolishing the small office building sitting in that space presently).
4. Reconfiguring the upper level of the Terminal C dropoff area to smooth traffic flow.
5. A significant expansion of Terminal E (adding seven new international gates)
6. Building a dedicated parking garage at Terminal E (where currently there is only surface parking.)

All of these projects will be going on roughly contemporaneously over the next five years, with final completion (of Terminal E) expected in 2024. Total cost to Massport will exceed $1 billion.

navi_jen

Thank you. I'll tell you what, Piers Park is JAMMED on summer weekends. If they are expanding Piers, coupled with the gazillion new waterfront apartments being built, means a real game changer to East Boston.

Oh, and as it relates to the airport, I will be glad when SW moves from Terminal A to B And good move to move rideshare pickups to the central parking area....will keep traffic WAY down. Only question is whether is how much central parking will this eat up. I already avoid driving to the airport because sometimes walking from Central Parking to the terminal can add 15 minutes to a trip.

I really wonder if at some point Worcester airport will start running regular commercial flights.

octr202

Selfishly worried that all the development on the East Boston waterfront will ruin Piers Park and KO Pies down in the shipyard. Were a couple of the best kept secrets down there (and I don't even live anywhere near there!). ;-)

Total parking increase is 2000 spaces at new Terminal E garage, and 3000 new Economy parking spaces (website doesn't detail how they'll do that - whether a new garage, or adding on top of the existing garage). Not that long ago, the plan to cut car trips to the airport was to limit parking and raise rates, now it's reversed - parking seen as better than ride-hailing or family/friend drop off, so they're back to adding parking.

Sadly, no indication that an automated people mover is planned to replace the shuttle bus system.

lhl12

If you look at the Massport five year capital plan (the most recent one being for 2019-2023) you will see a line item for "Automated People Mover". They spent $5 million on the People Mover in FY19 (year ended June 30, 2019), then budget $20 million in FY20, all of which I assume is for design and feasibility studies. The amount then goes to zero for FY21-FY23, during which time they are doing all the "Logan Forward" improvements. Finally, in the column titled "FY24+" (meaning sometime after the current five year plan expires) they show a budget amount of $1.275 BILLION.

The positive interpretation is that they are doing their planning work now and will begin implementing the system sometime after the Logan Forward work is completed. The negative interpretation is that nothing is committed beyond another $20 million of design work over the upcoming fiscal year and it's possible the People Mover will never happen.

Massport releases an updated five year capital plan in February of each year so it's possible we'll have greater clarity in February 2020 when they release the 2020-2025 plan. More likely, we won't know more until they complete the $25 million of design spending and they get farther down the road on the Logan Forward improvements. Maybe 2022 or 2023, when the end is in sight for Logan Forward?

navi_jen

Shh is right. It's already hard enough to find marina parking on the weekend. I love KO pies...I only wish they had a FastLane for us marina folks so we could grab and go

lhl12

It has been quite a while since i have seen any updates on Logan Forward issued by Massport. Does anyone have any sense of where things stand, which pieces will be completed by when, etc.?

lhl12

Looks like the Terminal C Canopy is complete:

https://www.massport.com/massport/me...nd-upper-deck/

The press release also mentions that the Terminal B-C connector will be done next summer.

JY1024

Great news on both fronts! That construction has been a nightmare trying to pick up folks from Terminal C!

Excited to see the B-C connector to be done as well. I occasionally like a change of lounge scenery and utilize the options over in C/E. Not a big deal to reclear security if I�m flying out of Terminal B. But would be nice to stay airside�will be a long walk, but a good chance to get my steps in before sitting on the flying school buses!

ExpatExp

Are taxis the only car and driver for hire that can collect and drop off at terminals now? What about traditional limo companies? The trek from E to Central Parking with luggage after a transatlantic flight is something I want to avoid next time

lhl12

Just because the B-C Connector will be complete by the summer, I don't think it automatically follows that all the roadway work between B and C will also be complete on the same schedule. They were still doing demolition of the old roadway this past weekend so it seems optimistic that they'll be done with the new roadway in six months. Also, the Massport press release mentioned only the Connector - nothing about the roadway, unfortunately.

lhl12

Another update - the Massport 2021 Annual Report includes this statement:

"In the fall of 2021, Massport completed the first phase of the Terminal B-to-C Roadway Improvements project by constructing dedicated arrival- and departure-level roadway connections from Terminal B to Terminal C for authorized bus vehicles only. When completed in late 2023, the Terminal B-to-C Roadway project will enhance safety by reducing traffic congestion between Boston Logan’s two busiest terminals, especially during peak travel times."

So, it looks like we are on the home stretch for "Logan Forward"

willoL

Speaking for Terminal B (and vague memories of our last international arrival into E), the Limo pick up point is a shorter walk than going all the way to Central Parking for the Uber/Lyft point, but it is still across the street (one drop off lane, I believe, in both cases) from either terminal building. The B pick up area for limos is under cover, inside the garage; I think E was open air so you'd experience any precipitation there.

Here's what the massport website says about it: https://www.massport.com/logan-airpo...ransportation/

Lyft can still drop me off at the curb, so I'll still use them sometimes towards the airport, but I'm not sure if only my need for accessible drop off makes that possible. In the morning, and if I'm traveling light (or have my teen with me to lug baggage), I don't mind taking Logan Express to the airport, either, because the waiting area in my suburban area is comfortable. (Standing at the curb to await a bus wouldn't work for me on the trip home.)

My husband used Malden Car Service when traveling for work a few times prior to the pandemic. Since then, as my mobility challenges have increased, I now use them regularly if I'm arriving later in the day when my energy flags. They've been reliable, but, of course, cost more than a taxi.
www.maldencarservice.com

ExpatExp

Thanks for this info. I've been using taxis to avoid the trek to Central Parking, but it's good to know I can pre-book a limo and be collected at the terminal 👍

I see from the Massport website however that there is no terminal pick-up option at Terminal C, for either taxis or limos. Is this because Central Parking is very close to Terminal C?

Yahtzee

Terminal C pick up and drop off are a mess and don't have a separate area like Terminal B. So, they funnel everyone to central parking.

willoL

This probably explains why the limo driver insisted he pick me up at the departures level of Terminal C when my teen and I flew JetBlue back to Logan a couple of weeks ago. The wheelchair attendant wanted to follow the rules, but my car was upstairs at the curb.

I did offer to show him my blue disabled parking placard, and I would have shown that to any police officer who questioned the pick up, if anyone had done so. Hopefully the wheelchair guy wouldn't get into trouble for this. It probably helps that it was late evening and departures was virtually empty.