New York JFK Airport Awards $1.2 Billion Contract For Landside Roadway Revamp

Swedish construction and development firm Shanksa will lead a joint venture (JV) awarded $1.24 billion to redesign and reconstruct New York John F. Kennedy International Airport’s (JFK) crowded landside roadways.

The JV, which will also include New York-based heavy construction firm Halmar International, is additionally charged with building a new multi-level automobile parking facility. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates JFK, says the landside work is a “key part” of the $19 billion modernization program underway at the airport.

“The transformation of JFK into a global gateway that will rival the best in the world would not be complete without the roads, parking and infrastructure to match,” Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole says in a statement.

In February, JFK broke ground on Terminal 6, the 1.2-million-ft.² facility that will serve as JetBlue Airways’ primary home. The $4.2 billion project is the latest piece of JFK’s modernization program, which also includes a $9.5 billion Terminal 1 on the airport’s south side, on which ground was broken in September 2022.

Other projects include a $1.5 billion expansion of Terminal 4, where Delta Air Lines is based, and a $400 million expansion of Terminal 8, where American Airlines and British Airways are stationed.

According to the Port Authority, the Shanksa-Halmar JV will design and construct a revamped airport roadway network, “which includes roadway reconfiguration, maintenance and protection of traffic during construction, intuitive wayfinding and enhanced traffic technologies, at-grade pavement, retaining walls and bridges, as well as utility relocations and upgrades.”

Virginia-based Parsons Corp., which has been named the lead designer on the Shanksa-Halmar JFK project, says the landside roads will be reconfigured into “two main loops” to “simplify” traffic movement.

The JV will also build a parking facility with capacity for 1,950 automobiles and equipped with electric vehicle charging stations. Additionally, the contract includes the construction of a pedestrian connector from the new parking facility to Terminal 1.

The Shanksa-Halmar JV’s work is “expected to be completed by December 2027, in line with new terminal construction, providing access for all new terminals at completion without interruptions to existing operations,” the Port Authority says.

Halmar says it has previously worked on more than 15 contracts at JFK.