The Upper Cumberland Regional Airport is looking for ways to increase its parking capacity as it continues with major expansions.
Airport Manager Dean Selby said the airport’s rapid growth is steadily bringing in more and more people, But construction of new facilities limits any new potential parking lots. Selby said the problems caused by a lack of parking will only get worse the longer it takes to find a solution.
“Right now what we have is a situation where the traffic out here gets bad and people go ‘Oh traffic’s bad, there must be an event going on at the airport,’” Selby said. “Give it a few years and if we continue this growth rate, it’ll be a ‘Traffic is bad around the airport, it’s just rush hour.’ So we need to be planning on that early so we have somewhere to do with that.”
Selby said the airport is looking into the purchase of a nearby gravel lot that could support the airport’s parking needs for many years. Selby said the airport will have eight buildings under construction by January 1.
“All those people are going to have to have somewhere to park, and we’re negotiating other expansions right now, so over time it’s just going to continue to grow and continue to be a problem,” Selby said. “Addressing it early is the smart way to do it rather than waiting and then going, ‘Oh wow they’ve built all around it, now there’s nowhere to go.”
Selby said he is unsure if the airport will move forward with the nearby gravel lot or opt for another solution as they are still in the planning stage of the problem.
“We want something that works with everybody, and this is an opportunity to buy a piece of property that’s ideal for what we need,” Selby said. “It’s already graveled, we just, we need to reach out and see if it’s available and kind of get an idea of what our options are.”
Selby said the need for more parking became clear during the Trunk or Treat with Aircrafts event last Halloween when around 8,000 people showed up.
“We’re doing more and more of those events,” Selby said. “We’ve got another big one we’re planning right now that will probably be bigger than that.”
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