- September 1, 2022
- In the Media
Airport Improvement Spotlights the Phoenix Sky Harbor Stage 2 Extension
Nate Walnum, PE
Project Manager
The PHX Sky Train® Extension at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport creates a more accessible, convenient, and sustainable travel experience for passengers making their way to the airport. The extension decreases drive and wait times for rental car customers, reduces greenhouse gases by removing all buses from airport roadways, among other featured amenities.
Kimley-Horn provided civil, structural, and electrical engineering for stage 2, prioritizing traveler impact in the design for the new train guideway, which required the relocation of the commercial ground transportation staging lots for taxis, Uber/Lyft, and shuttles.
“There was a lot of concern by the [ground transportation] drivers that this relocation would have a big impact on them. So, we spent a lot of time looking at traffic, speeds, and drive times to show them that the new site would actually give them better access to Sky Harbor Boulevard with drive times that would be similar, or even better.”
These changes are expected to provide a better overall experience for travelers and allow for continued expansion in the future. The upcoming final stage will focus on full operation of systems ahead of the NFL’s Big Game in 2023, hosted by Phoenix.
About the Expert
Nate Walnum, PE
Nate has more than 25 years of planning, engineering, and management experience on a wide array of airport, transit, rail, roadway, and municipal projects. His airside design experience includes runways, taxiways, airside service roads and terminal apron projects. Nate’s landside aviation experience includes planning and design of roadway improvements and ground transportation centers, automated people movers, parking, traffic, curb front management, utilities, passenger simulation modeling, communications and security.