If you’re picking someone up from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport soon, the road to arrivals and departures will look different.
SEA officials are putting a stop to people parking on the shoulder of the highway before arrivals.
You might think parking on the shoulder while waiting for a loved one to get off the plane is okay, but Port of Seattle Commander Sean Gillebo says otherwise.
“As soon as they are coming around that curve they are parking on the shoulder of the freeway,” Gillebo said.
Port of Seattle Police say parking on those shoulders could be deadly.
“One wrong move and someone’s going to get hurt, the shoulder is for emergencies it’s not for free parking,” he said.
To keep people away, they partnered with WSDOT to paint lines and put up no parking signs along the shoulder. But that still isn’t enough, now hundreds of orange cones are littering the airport entrance.
“That does help but those can be moved so people will still park over there,” Gillebo said.
He says when people still don’t listen, it’s time to write tickets.
“We have given out over 100 infractions in a shift so if we have the time we will continually write infractions.”
Officials say if you are caught idling on the shoulder, it’s a $50 fine.
“The best place is going to the parking garage and during holidays they will give a grace period where if you’re there half an hour you’ll get that for free,” Gillebo said.
He tells us the cell phone lot is a good option as well to make sure you and nobody else is put in danger.
Port of Seattle Police say they are working to increase that ticket price soon in hopes of showing how serious they are about shoulder safety.
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