The state Transportation Department plans to add nearly 3,500 parking spaces at airports across the state, including building a new five-story, $39 million structure at Honolulu International Airport, officials said this week.

Construction of the Honolulu facility, with about 1,000 new stalls, could begin next year and be finished within 18 months, said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

"Parking is the No. 1 source of complaints at the airport, and we're going to do something about it," Ishikawa said.

The parking improvements, including new stalls in Kona, Hilo and Lihu'e, are the first phase of what Gov. Linda Lingle has said will be a decade-long, $2.3 billion effort to improve the state's aging airport facilities for both residents and visitors.

Most of the existing facilities, such as gates and motorized passenger ramps at Honolulu International Airport, are more than 30 years old and long overdue for replacement, Lingle noted in first announcing the plans earlier this year.

A report released last year by the state's Economic Momentum Commission also noted that visitors often find airport facilities dilapidated, overcrowded and lacking in the aloha spirit.

"The plan should combine the establishment of a state-of-the-art facility with an authentic Hawaiian experience," the commission report concluded.

Within five years, the state plans to modernize the public address and flight information systems, add moving walkways, replace Wikiwiki buses and develop a new signage program for passengers in Honolulu, Ishikawa said.

PARKING GRIPES

Longer-range plans call for renovating existing gates and adding more than a dozen new ones as well as a "people-mover" system in Honolulu, expanding terminal facilities and adding gates on Maui and in Kona, and streamlining security screening at airports throughout the state.

"The changes will take place over time, but one of the first things people will see are improvements in the parking situation," Ishikawa said.

In the past year, state officials have added a valet parking service and banned employees from parking in the interisland parking structure in efforts to free up more spaces for travelers.

"That helped a lot, but there's still a need for more improvements," Ishikawa said.

In Honolulu, the new parking structure will be built on the site of an existing ground-level, tree-shaded parking area between the existing interisland and overseas parking structures that holds about 100 cars.

The new structure will have both auto and pedestrian connections to the interisland parking lot and terminal, providing easy access for local travelers who frequently complain that it can be very hard to find parking, especially on a holiday weekend, Ishikawa said.

The Transportation Department has budgeted $23 million for the project this year and expects to ask the Legislature for an additional $16 million in its next two-year budget plan.

Passengers at Honolulu International Airport on Wednesday, one of the busiest travel days of the year, responded enthusiastically to the proposed parking changes.

"That's great. Sometimes, you have to cruise around for 15 or 20 minutes before you can find a place to park," said Van Dang, a Honolulu resident who was at the airport to pick up his brother arriving from the Mainland.

"It's a little horrendous sometimes," said Nathan Guillermo, a ramp agent for Hawaiian Airlines, who drives a moped to work from his home in 'Aiea to avoid parking problems. "Sometimes people are almost desperate to find a parking space and get to their flight on time."

HILO 'NEEDS THE HELP'

The parking needs are equally acute at Neighbor Island airports, Ishikawa said.

One of the biggest changes will come at Hilo International Airport, where the state not only will add about 750 spaces but reverse the existing traffic flow to move in a clockwise direction, giving exiting cars a quicker route to Hilo.

"Hilo really needs the help," said Christelle Bockrath, 29, of Volcano. "Everyone parks on the grass or drives round and round rather than trying to find parking."

Beyond parking, travelers said they want to see improved transportation and more open space within airport terminals.

In Kahului, Maui, one of the first changes calls for redesigning the existing terminal to expand the ticket lobby and the number of check-in positions by moving existing baggage security screening systems behind the ticket counters.

"That would be good. It would make it a lot easier to move around and might help shorten the lines," said Buddy Ryan, a visitor from Mission, Texas, who was making his way through Honolulu to a two-week vacation in Kona.

WAIT A FEW YEARS AND ...

Design work is scheduled to start this year on two other mid-range proposals in Honolulu: an $81 million project to build a new commuter terminal and a $63 million project to construct new cargo and maintenance facilities for Hawaiian and Aloha airlines.

Construction work on those projects would not begin for several more years, Ishikawa said.

Ultimately, the biggest, most-expensive changes will include a long-planned expansion of Honolulu International Airport and the creation of an automated people mover system that might be like the mini-monorail systems used in Denver and some other Mainland airports.

"It's a little hard to find your way around the airport," said Steve Shaller, a Groton, S.D., farmer who was traveling to Maui on Wednesday with 11 members of his family. "When you have young kids and older people in your group, it's nice to have some help getting around."

WHAT'S AHEAD FOR EACH AIRPORT

HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Short-term projects (within 5 years):