Airport reaches another renovation milestone, inches closer to completion

As part of its ongoing $79 million renovation project, the Greater Rochester International Airport this week unveiled a new passenger security checkpoint.

The spacious, six-lane checkpoint is another major milestone in the project, Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo said.

“Convenient passenger screening is an essential for today’s travelers and will help us improve the overall experience at our airport, enhancing our efforts to attract more jobs and investments to Monroe County,” Dinolfo said.

The  checkpoint was designed with input from the Transportation Security Administration to increase security and efficiency, increase passenger queuing space and readily adapt to peak volume travel periods.

The completion of the new checkpoint follows the August unveiling of new communications technologies, which feature smart color-coded LED lighting to promote visual cueing for all passengers in the gate area, as well as terminal-wide hearing loops and counter loops installed at key locations to assist deaf or hard-of-hearing guests.

Passenger traffic at Rochester’s airport was up 8 percent from January through July this year, compared with traffic in the same time period last year. Officials said the airport experiences three peak travel periods at the passenger security checkpoint throughout the day, which can amount to nearly 5,000 passengers being screened per day.

“I would like to congratulate County Executive Dinolfo and her airport team for overseeing the extensive renovation of the checkpoint, which is a critical part of the airport modernization,” said TSA Federal Security Director Bart Johnson. “This new checkpoint will result in a much more pleasant screening experience for both the passengers and the TSA security officers assigned to this checkpoint.”

The new checkpoint features a welcoming sign, highly visible passenger wayfinding signage for TSA precheck lanes and general boarding and overhead LED messaging.

The renovation project is scheduled for completion in October.

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