Airport to open new checkpoint, 4 more security screening lanes

IMPERIAL, Pa. (AP) -- Four more lanes will be available for security screenings at Pittsburgh International Airport in time for the Thanksgiving rush.
A new checkpoint will open next weekend in the airport's old commuter terminal in an effort to combat lengthy delays -- some stretching more than 35 minutes -- during peak travel times. The lanes will supplement the seven now used for screenings on the transit level of the airport's landside building. They should cut waits at checkpoints to less than 10 minutes, said Kent George, executive director of the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
To reach the new checkpoint from the ticketing level of the landside building, travelers will have to cross the closed commercial departures road and go through an enclosed walkway to reach the old commuter terminal. From there, they will take escalators to the trains that run to the boarding terminal.
Officials expect the new checkpoint to be open from 5 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. daily. If the $1.2 million project is successful in cutting delays, the authority plans to build permanent walkways above the commercial departures road.
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