More parking, more gates, more space and a new runway. RDU has big plans to grow.

You may not notice it this summer, but Raleigh-Durham International Airport is on the cusp of big changes.

RDU plans $3 billion worth of construction projects over the coming decade to try to keep up with the region’s growth. That includes:

▪ building a new main runway.

▪ tripling the size of the largest remote parking lot.

▪ expanding both passenger terminals.

▪ improving the flow of traffic.

▪ creating new ground transportation and central car rental facilities within walking distance of the terminals.

Much of the work is laid out in a 25-year master plan called Vision 2040 that the airport adopted in 2016, then put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now that RDU is again handling record numbers of passengers, it’s moving ahead with projects that will turn the airport into a construction zone in the coming years.

It’s complicated

That construction will seem to drag on, as contractors do their work while the airport continues to function around them, says Bill Sandifer, RDU’s chief development officer.

“If we had a greenfield site, we could do it quickly,” Sandifer told RDU’s governing board earlier this year. “We don’t. Imagine redoing your kitchen while you’re living in your house. It’s more complicated.”

Here’s what is coming:

A new main runway: RDU officially broke ground on a replacement for its main runway on the west side of the airfield last fall, though so far most of the work has entailed moving utility lines and preparing to move dirt. When the new runway opens later this decade, the existing one will be converted into a taxiway.

The new runway is the most critical of the airport’s construction projects; the existing runway was completed in 1986 and requires costly repairs to keep viable. The new runway will stretch 10,639 feet, or 639 feet longer than the existing one to allow all cargo and passenger carriers now doing business at the airport to operate their planes fully loaded.

More parking: RDU is nearly tripling the size of Park Economy 3, its largest remote parking lot near Aviation Drive and Interstate 40. The first of the 7,000 new spaces will be ready next year, with some coming online in 2026. The lights, message boards, ticket machines and bathrooms at the lot will be powered in part by the sun, after the airport installs solar panels on the roofs of some of the covered walkways.

Bigger terminals

A bigger Terminal 2: The main passenger terminal at RDU is at capacity. The first step to enlarge the building will focus on the “landside,” with expansion along the road to add more ticket counters, baggage carousels and security checkpoints and more space for the Customs and Border Protection facility for incoming international passengers. Contractors are working on final designs, and construction is expected to begin next year.

More gates at Terminal 2: Eventually, RDU wants to enlarge the airfield side of the terminal, increasing the number of gates from 33 to 53 by 2050, by adding wings to the existing concourses. That work can’t begin until the new runway is completed.

More gates at Terminal 1: The smaller of the two, Terminal 1 has nine gates, and RDU is early in the process of determining when to add up to 15 more. By the end of this year, consultants are expected to finish conceptual designs and renderings and rough cost estimates that will help airport leaders decide how and how much to expand the terminal.

Better ground transportation

A new center for rental cars: RDU has preliminary designs for a consolidated rental car complex or CONRAC that would move all the rental car companies into a new multi-story garage north of the main parking decks. Travelers will be able to reach the counters and cars on foot from the terminals, eliminating the need for the shuttle buses that now circle the airport campus.

A new ground transportation center: Along with the CONRAC, RDU plans a new “ground transportation center” on the first floor of the parking decks, where taxis, hotel shuttles, limos and rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft will pick up and drop off passengers.

Realign John Brantley Boulevard: In conjunction with the landside expansion of Terminal 2, RDU plans to demolish and replace two parking decks closest to the building and realign John Brantley Boulevard, the airport’s main street. The boulevard will also be shifted north to make room for the CONRAC.

More space for air cargo: RDU plans to eventually close its smaller remote lot, Park Economy 4, off International Drive, making the space available to expand the air cargo operations at the north end of the airfield.

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