El Segundo mayor says new terminals project at LAX means more noise, traffic, air pollution

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (KABC) -- The Los Angeles International Airport is looking at adding new terminals to improve efficiency, but officials from the neighboring city of El Segundo say the project would bring more noise, traffic and air pollution.

LAX's Central Terminal may be getting bigger, but this isn't a renovation. The airport has proposed building two brand new terminals.

Concourse Zero would be an extension of Terminal one with 11 passenger gates located on the north side of the airport. Terminal nine would have 12 gates and be located across the Sepulveda/Century Boulevard intersection, connected to the central terminal by a pedestrian bridge.

"It's going to allow some new entrances into the airport which will take some of the burden of traffic off local roads," said Becca Doten, with LAX Airport.

LAX stresses this is a relocation of most of the 18 remote gates and not an expansion of the airport because the proposed project would exist within the airport's existing footprint. The airport would likely see a net gain of a few gates.

"Landing in a remote gate is not the best guest experience. If you've had a 12-hour, 14-hour flight, you land in a remote gate. Then you have to take a bus to a terminal for processing. It's inefficient and bad for the environment," said Doten.

But one of LAX's neighbors, the city of El Segundo, says the project will increase flights at the airport which means more noise, traffic, and air pollution.

"We are frankly dismayed at what we've seen. For the first time ever LAX wanted to expand east of Sepulveda and essentially adding two new terminals and much more capacity," said Drew Boyles, mayor of El Segundo.

The city of El Segundo says they're in favor of LAX's modernization and agree that the remote gates are inefficient. But, they believe that LAX has reached its capacity and would like to see expansion at other regional airports.

"Travelers are coming from all over L.A. to get to this airport, and we would like to see at some point, a limit on just how many flights come in and out of this airport," said Boyles.

LAX is currently holding community meetings, and the environmental review process started last week. There's no price tag yet, but the project would be completed before the 2028 Olympics.