Terminal 3 Improvements Project: ‘ElevateT3’

Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) broke ground in April 2024 on the approximately $300 million Terminal 3 Improvements Project.

ElevateT3 brings forward another significant investment in the airport's aging terminal facilities by upgrading customer amenities, improving security screening and airport operations, and expanding accessibility for passengers with disabilities.

The construction work will include:

• The reconfiguration of two passenger security screening checkpoints into a single screening area with space for more modern and efficient equipment supporting Transportation Security Administration operations
• An expanded passenger corridor between Concourses K and L, doubling the current corridor's width
• Expanded hold room space at Gates K1 and L2A
• Reconfigured baggage claim area and other upgrades to the terminal's baggage facilities and systems that provide sortation for departing passenger baggage
• The development of approximately 10,000 square feet of new commercial and amenity spaces
• Renovated restrooms, and new family and service animal relief restrooms
• Renovations to interior and exterior terminal structures and systems to improve overall energy efficiency

 
ElevateT3 is financed in part by $90 million in grant funding from President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The project will be implemented by Construction Manager At-Risk (CMAR), COT3, a joint venture of Clark Construction and W.E. O'Neil. Outreach work on available bid packages for the project began in late 2023.

Terminal 3 will remain open and operational throughout construction with no planned concessions closures and other impacts contained to an absolute minimum. The project is scheduled for completion in 2027.​