ORLANDO, Fla. – The time- and energy-saving pedestrian bridge currently under construction at Orlando International Airport’s Terminal C is almost finished.
The enclosed walkway, complete with its own rental car counters, will be a critical connection for passengers trying to get from the Brightline train station and People Mover Trams in the intermodal facility to the inside of Terminal C.
Anyone who’s made the trek, especially in the summer heat, knows it’s not fun.
News 6 watched plenty of passengers struggle in the open-air Terminal C garage, lugging luggage over the rubber expansion joints that are not friendly to small suitcase wheels.
It’s currently the only way to walk from the train stations to the terminal.
When the $2.8 billion Terminal C was completed in 2022, it was supposed to include the pedestrian bridge but was deleted from the design in order to cut costs as the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out passenger traffic and revenue.
Crews installed rebar-reinforced concrete pilings but never built the bridge structure on top.
Now, the exterior of the bridge is complete. Workers can be seen on both floors of the walkway putting the finishing touches on the inside.
Car rental counters are being built on one floor. That phase of the project will finish in spring 2026.
The other floor, the walkway to the terminal, on track to finish this spring, will contain moving walkways. In fact several moving walkways, which were also deleted during construction, will be installed throughout the vastness of Terminal C.
Newark International Airport just completed a similar enclosed pedestrian bridge at its newly-rebuilt Terminal A, connecting the rental car facility to the inside of the terminal with moving walkways.
Angela Starke, MCO Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, said the pedestrian bridge is “close.”
“When completed, passengers will no longer need to access Terminal C through the Terminal C garage,” Starke said. “While the bridge will be open, construction will continue for the adjacent rental car lobby.”
