Switching airport signs is no breeze, officials say

Are people who get lost on the way to the airport worth a million bucks?

That's the price tag for installing new freeway signs to guide travelers to the correct terminal on their first try. An estimated 20,000 passengers show up at the wrong building each year, and the new green signs listing which airlines are at which terminal are aimed at reducing the confusion and stress at one of the nation's most unusually laid-out airports.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission is hoping to have 40 new signs in place on three stretches of freeway before the end of the year, said spokesman Pat Hogan. The cost, estimated at more than $1 million, would be paid out of airport revenues.

Even though state highway funds aren't involved, the cost has raised more than a few eyebrows. "Give me a bucket of white paint and a brush!" wrote one startribune.com reader. "I'll make the new signs and I'll only charge $500k!"

The reality is that big freeway signs are big-ticket items. A sign with one support post can cost $30,000, while a full over-the-roadway structure with multiple signs might cost $100,000, said Cassandra Isackson, assistant state traffic engineer. Many of the new signs will go on existing supports, but 12 new supports will be built.

The main factor in the construction cost is wind, said Isackson. Some of the signs are as large as 10 feet by 16 feet, she said, adding that anyone who has tried to carry a piece of plywood in anything more than a light breeze has an understanding of the forces at work.

There is actually a wind map that sign engineers around the country use, said Tom Merritt, who is in charge of such things for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Minnesota (and most of the interior of the United States) is in the 90-mile-per-hour zone, meaning the structures must be sturdy enough to remain standing in such winds, plus gusts approaching 100 mph.

Installation is another factor in the cost, Isackson said, because lanes must be closed and cranes must be brought in. (It's not just a guy with an extension ladder, she said.)

The sign plan may include the co-naming of the two terminals. The Lindbergh terminal would become Terminal 1, while the much smaller Humphrey terminal would be Terminal 2.

The hope is that the numbers would make things clearer to motorists, or at least let them know that there's more than one terminal. Some current signs simply say "Lindbergh" or "Humphrey," while Isackson said that past signs used "main" for Lindbergh and "charter" or "HHH" for Humphrey.

Because Minneapolis-St. Paul International doesn't have a single access road the way most major U.S. airports do, signs listing airlines will appear on westbound Hwy. 5 and on two stretches of Interstate 494. However, drivers going east on 494 from Hwy. 77 or the Mall of America won't see such signs because there isn't enough room to put them there, Hogan said.

The terminals, which are on different roadways and are three miles apart by car, are also connected by the Hiawatha light-rail line. The train stations are some distance from the ticket counters, however, so it's not always possible for passengers to get between the two in time for a flight if they've shown up at the wrong spot.

Hogan said the problem draws about a dozen written complaints a month, from just a fraction of the people who get confused. He said the 20,000 estimate was reached after talking with airport employees and Traveler's Assistance volunteers.

The commission is expected to vote next month on the sign plan.

Jim Foti • 612-673-4491

JAMES LILEKS WEIGHS IN: Renaming them Terminals One and Two: Yeah, that will make it a whole lot easier! B3