No reprieve in sight for Boise Airport parking

Maybe you’ve been that guy creeping past the airport parking lot entrance, half-hoping to spot an empty parking space that the red “Full” sign was lying about.

Maybe you were the one clutching the steering wheel while speeding back to the airport shuttle parking lot on Orchard Street, checking the car stereo clock every minute and making a mental calculation: shuttle wait time plus shuttle ride plus baggage check plus security screening, carry the two, subtracted from departure time …

Chances are, you weren’t the only one. The shuttle lot at Orchard Street and Victory Road averages from 125 to 200 overnight parkers every day, with more on holidays and spring break, according to Trena Martin, manager of AMPCO Parking, which manages the Boise Airport parking lots. The numbers are growing, because layovers at the Boise Airport have increased 10 to 12 percent per year, she said.
While a few people park in that lot because they like to use the shuttle, the overwhelming majority are travelers who arrived at the airport, found the long-term parking lots full and were forced to use the off-site parking and shuttle service, she said.
A shuttle with room for 14 passengers runs every 15 minutes, and about twice a week the service has to run two shuttles at once to keep up with high passenger volume.
Martin said more people will have to park off-site soon when the airport repaints the stripes on one of its surface lots. AMPCO has plans to pave new areas at the shuttle lot to add parking, she said.
The city of Boise wanted to build another parking garage at the airport, but hit a legal snag. In the 2006 case Frazier vs. City of Boise, the Idaho Supreme Court denied the city’s request to build a new parking garage at the Boise Airport without approval of a supermajority of voters.
The Idaho Constitution states cities and counties can’t go into debt without a vote except for “ordinary and necessary” expenses. In their majority opinion, the justices determined that the parking garage was not necessary because it was not an emergency – drivers could continue to use the shuttle lot, as they had been doing.
The Association of Idaho Cities asked this year’s Legislature to form a task force to study how the Frazier decision would affect infrastructure funding for cities and counties, but according to Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Ray Stark, the proposal never got a hearing. Senate President Pro Tem Robert Geddes and Speaker of the House Lawerence Denney still have the opportunity to appoint a task force at a Legislative Council meeting May 17.