Wednesday, February 26, 2003

Car inspections have begun at Hartsfield

Starting yesterday,the Atlanta Police Department and private security personnel began conducting visual inspections of all vans, trucks, and SUVs on the access roads leading to Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.

Additionally, privately owned passenger vehicles will be subject to a random inspection, which will include inspection of the trunk.

This new security requirement is a federal mandate issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and requires inspections to occur round-the-clock. Vehicle inspections are not expected to take more than a few minutes, however airport officials are anticipating heavy traffic congestion during peak periods on airport roads.

Following a successful mock trial of the vehicle checkpoints this afternoon, Hartsfield is advising passengers to add one hour to their arrival time.

Passengers will continue to have direct roadway access to Hartsfield Park-Ride lots, as entrances to these lots are located before the vehicle checkpoints. Travelers are encouraged to use the convenient Airport Park-Ride service that provides a free shuttle bus to quickly pick up passengers from their vehicles and take them to the curb.

Vehicle inspection checkpoints will be established on both the north and south terminal prior to economy and short-term parking entrances. Two lanes of traffic will be restricted to the main terminal building to allow for the vehicle inspections.

During peak periods when roads may become congested at Hartsfield the Georgia Department of Transportation will alert passengers using interstate highway overhead signage. On an average day approximately 60-thousand vehicles use access roads at Hartsfield.

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