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Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport has two terminals, both of which are named for famous Minnesotans; the Lindbergh Terminal (named for aviator Charles Lindbergh) and the much smaller Humphrey Terminal (named for former US vice president Hubert H. Humphrey).
Like many other airports, MSP interconnects with several other forms of transportation. Several large parking ramps are available for cars. Most other connections are made at the Hub Building and adjacent Transit Center, which has city and shuttle bus, taxi, and rental car service. Two trams ( people moverA people mover is a fully-automated light rail or tram system. The term usually implies an elevated single track loop, although several considerably more complex systems are in operation. People movers, especially multi-station systems intended for mass ts) are at the airport. One carries passengers from the main section of Lindbergh Terminal to the Hub Bulding, and another runs along a long concourse in that terminal.
The airport is near Fort Snelling, one of the earliest white settlements in the area which is now a historic site. Both the MississippiThis page is about the river in the United States; for other uses, see Mississippi River (disambiguation). The Mississippi River is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. Taken t and MinnesotaThe Minnesota River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the state of Minnesota in the United States. It rises in southwestern Minnesota, in Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota- South Dakota border. It flows south rivers flow nearby. Minnesota Highway 5 provides the closest entrance to the Lindbergh Terminal, just a short distance from Interstate 494. The Humphrey Terminal is easier to access via the 34th Avenue exit from I-494. That road runs past Fort Snelling National Cemetery . Some airlines at the airport have hangarairplanes, airships and helicopters. A hangar is a metal, wooden or concrete structure designed to hold one or many aircraft in protective storage. Hangars may be used to protect aircraft from weather or enemy fire (if in a wartime environment) when theys arranged along I-494 and 34th Avenue, so it's possible to see airlinerAn airliner is a type of aircraft initially designed for the transportation of paying passengers. There may be variants developed for air freight, military or luxury corporate use. Occasionally the military version precedes the civilian airliner. Exampless undergoing maintenance while driving past, although some hangars have been removed in recent years.
The Hiawatha Line light-rail project, which will have stops both at the Hub Building and Humphrey Terminal, is expected to provide connections to downtown Minneapolis as well as the Mall of America when the full line opens on December 4, 2004. Two parallel tunnels for the line run roughly 70 feet (20 meters) below the airport, and at 1.7 miles (2.7 km) in length are the longest tunnels on the route. The Lindbergh Terminal station will be the only one underground on the line, as the rails return to the surface near Humphrey Terminal. The underground portion was the costliest section of the line.
Northwest Airlines has expanded operations at the airport over the years. In the past, Northwest and others have proposed moving out of MSP airport and expanding one of the regional airports farther out in the Twin Cities metro area to handle large jets and international traffic. Minneapolis and other neighboring cities were concerned that such a move would have a negative economic impact, so an arrangement was made where the Metropolitan Airports Commission would outfit many homes in the vicinity of the airport with sound insulation and air conditioning so that indoor noise could be reduced. A citizen group named ROAR (Residents Opposed to Airport Racket) was created in 1998 and helped push the MAC to make these concessions. Later, in 2004, the MAC voted to reduce funding for the soundproofing projects, stating in part that the economic climate had turned in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak , who had been a founding member of ROAR, promised that the city would challenge the funding changes.