Airport will add a 'cell-phone lot'

QUESTION: At the Colorado Springs Airport, is there a place for cars to stage for 15 minutes or so while waiting for someone to come out at the arrival doors? Since gas is around $3 a gallon it would be reasonable not to have to drive around the loop continuously while awaiting a person’s arrival. If DIA has a staging area, why doesn’t Colorado Springs Airport have one?
- Dan Knoepfle

ANSWER: Popularly referred to as “cell phone lots," these short-time waiting-for-arrivals areas have become popular over the past couple of years at large airports with limited close-in parking, according to aviation director Mark Earle. “Airports did that to avoid building extra parking lots.” This has not been a problem at Colorado Springs Airport, which has ample parking areas, he said.

However, there’s good news. “The cell phone lot is something people like and as a service we intend to add one,” Earle said. The airport already has a commercial staging area, where commercial vehicles can wait. That area would be difficult to use for “cell phone” parking because it is also used for inspections during times of heightened security. If the commercial staging area can’t also be adapted to “cell phone lot” use, airport officials are considering building one as part of the 2007 roadway development project at the airport, Earle said.

Until a “cell phone” area is available, Earle said he invites people to use short-term parking and come inside the renovated terminal “which we made much more comfortable inside, and there are new restaurants and shops."