HOUSTON – Elizabeth Ohiku said traveling with children is difficult, but she isn’t talking about flying out of the airport.
“We didn’t know what to do,” Ohiku said. “We didn’t know where to go.”
She’s talking about picking up a loved one from Terminal E at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
“They didn’t give us enough information on these changes,” she said. “It was really hard getting here, even with the stroller, there was no elevator.”
For months, there also weren’t any bathrooms in the Terminal E pick-up area.
“You had to go to the other terminal,” Mitchel O’Neil said.
A portable restroom was recently added outside.
The lack of bathrooms and elevators stems from the airport’s $1.3 billion construction project.
Traffic concerns are still the headline of the headache.
“Fifty minutes, trust me,” MD Uddin, owner of JK Transport said. “It’s like 100 years or something to go there.”
Uddin, who owns a limo service, said that’s his commute to pick up a customer.
“A and B are not a problem, but in Terminal E or D, there is no parking for limos and service,” he said.
He added that his options are to walk his customers to terminal C or have them wait an hour or more.
“A lot of bags are really the problem. There is no elevator or nothing,” Uddin said.
An airport spokesperson said elevators inside will reopen on June 6, meaning busses for those with disabilities will be moved, freeing up a little more pick-up space.
KPRC 2 has continuously requested to speak with the director of the airport Mario Diaz about travelers’ concerns, but those requests have been denied.
A spokesperson told us additional lanes near the road will open in July, but wouldn’t give a specific date.
In the meantime, Uddin said he doesn’t know what to tell his customers.
“A lot of people are also trying to fly from Hobby,” he said. “They change it sometimes.”
Almost a month ago, we took viewers’ concerns about the construction chaos to Houston City Council Member Dave Robinson who is also the Chairman of the Transportation Committee.
He said he would try and get some solutions. We’ve reached out to his office several times and have been told there are no updates.