Sacramento airport is closing more than 800 parking spaces. Here’s when and why
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- Sacramento International Airport is closing 800 parking spaces
- The airport is installing a new guidance system to help drivers find spots
- New 5,500-spot garage is under construction near Terminal B
Travelers will soon have fewer options for parking at Sacramento International Airport.
The airport is temporarily closing more than 800 parking spaces in its parking garage as it installs a new guidance system aimed at helping drivers find spots.
The Sacramento airport offers more than 150 daily direct flights on 12 airlines to about three dozen destinations in the United States, Mexico and Canada, according to the airport’s website.
Here’s what to know:
Where can I park at Sacramento airport?
Sacramento International Airport offers a number of options for parking your car on-site for a half-hour or longer, The Sacramento Bee previously reported.
All available lots can be used for short-term and long-term parking, according to the airport, and you can check parking space availability online.
A parking garage and daily lot just off Airport Boulevard offer parking spaces that are within walking distance of Terminal A.
There are more than 5,200 spots in the main parking garage and 3,000 spots in the daily lot, according to Sacramento County Department of Airports spokesperson Scott Johnston.
There is a larger economy lot just east of Aviation Drive, with roughly 6,000 spots available.
The airport recently opened a new economy lot with 3,000 parking spots at the south frontage road near AM-PM and Arco gas station.
There’s also an economy lot west of Terminal B with 3,300 parking spaces. That’s used as an overflow lot when the main parking lots are full.
Can I wait in my car for free at Sacramento International Airport?
Picking up a passenger? You can park at the free cell phone waiting area just south of Crossfield Drive for up to three hours at a time.
You can’t leave your car unattended in the cell phone lot, the airport said on its website, and vehicles must be attended at all times.
How much do parking fees cost? Prices to park overnight?
You can park at the parking garage and all parking lots for $2 per half-hour, the airport said.
Overnight airport parking ranges from $11 to $20 per day depending on the location.
How is parking garage changing at local airport?
In order to install its new parking guidance system, Sacramento International Airport will close one of the main parking garage’s six levels starting Saturday, July 19.
Each level has approximately 830 parking spaces.
However, the rest of the parking garage will remain open to visitors.
When will upgrades be completed?
The Sacramento airport will block off access to one level of the parking garage at a time in order to make upgrades, according to Johnston.
Each level will be closed for about 45 to 50 days, he said, then reopen when work moves on to a different level.
According to Johnston, installation of the parking guidance system will take about 10 months to complete.
How does the new parking guidance system work?
According to Johnston, the new parking guidance system will feature red and green lights on each level of the Sacramento airport’s parking garage.
A red light indicates to drivers that there are no parking spots available on a particular row, while a green light means that parking spaces are open on that row.
The airport will install the parking guidance system on every row and level in the garage, according to Johnston.
“What that does is it really helps our customers locate a spot much easier, and it allows us to keep the garage open much longer,” Johnston said. “Many other parking structures and airports around the country use this. It’s not a new technology.”
When will more parking spots be available at airport?
As of July, a major parking expansion project was in the works at the Sacramento airport.
Another 5,500 parking spaces will be available in a new six-story garage just west of Terminal B, The Sacramento Bee previously reported.
The nearly 2-million-square-foot garage is part of the $1.3 billion SMForward airport expansion project, which includes a pedestrian walkway, several new gates and a ground transportation center to the airport’s campus.
Construction on the garage began in late 2024 and is expected to be completed in the final quarter of 2026, according to the SMForward website
