Whoever said “every journey begins with a single step” never flew out of Salt Lake City International Airport. During reconstruction, the airport cheekily said the long walk around to the mid-concourse tunnel was their way to help you get your 10,000 steps a day.
No longer.
Travelers can now trade the cardio for what the airport said is a 3-minute stroll “at a natural easy pace” down the finally open River Tunnel that directly connects Concourse A to Concourse B. The walk has been shortened by about a half-mile or the equivalent of two downtown Salt Lake City blocks.
It’s also “a vibe,” said traveler Liz Griffin.
“The music is so calming. It feels like it's meant to be here instead of the other one. It was just like, ‘Oh, we have to get through this hallway.’”
Griffin, her sister and Doug Auerbach intentionally booked their return flight home to coincide with the tunnel’s opening day. The calming tunnel experience and all the bells and whistles of the new concourse can’t fully erase the stress of travel, but it can at the very least make a day at the airport a little more enjoyable for travelers like Griffin.
“It's not as exciting as a Taylor Swift concert, but still very exciting,” she quipped.
Her sister Olivia felt the same way.
“It's definitely less chaotic than the other one,” she said. “Everyone was like, ‘Oh, I have to start marching to the B gates.’ But this is just here, and it's nice.”
For Auerbach, the additions make the airport feel “more cohesive.”
“The B gates are not the scary annex, they're just the next part of the airport. And I think the art installation really connects them.”
On the other side of the tunnel walk in Concourse B is a brand new plaza with new art installations that mirror those found in the main airport, restaurants, an Allosaurus fragilis fossil from the Natural History Museum of Utah called “Ally at the Airport,” five new gates and a revamped terrazzo world map that once graced the floor of the old airport.
It was originally believed that the iconic map would have to be destroyed because of the way it was originally installed in 1960. The “map was sitting on a 2-foot solid slab of concrete, which would have been impossible to save,” said Bill Wyatt, executive director of the Salt Lake City Department of Airports. A core sample taken during reconstruction however revealed that it would be possible to salvage. A relief to Wyatt since it was a question that came up a lot.
“Can you save the world map? It became clear to me, as still a bit of an outsider, that just about everybody in this region has a personal story to tell about their experience on the world map.”
While the shorter walk and saved map are gifts to long-time Salt Lake flyers, the airport has continued its commitment to showcasing local businesses in the new plaza.
Michael McHenry, founder of Sunday’s Best restaurant in Sandy, said it’s a perfect fit for his brunch-focused restaurant because “it's always breakfast for someone coming through the airport.”
“Not only is it a half-a-mile shorter walk now to get over to this side, but they had the intent of landing at great local offerings,” he said. “So we feel a responsibility and a stewardship to welcome the close to 30 million travelers here on an annual basis.”
Construction is expected to be complete on all new Concourse B gates by the end of 2026.
