Walking to the airport? LAX construction spurs lengthy traffic delays, misery among fliers

Construction delays led to bumper-to-bumper traffic at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday morning, with some travelers claiming it took them nearly an hour to get through the congestion.

LAX announced lane closures for construction work on Century Boulevard on Saturday night, but delays kept the lanes closed through Sunday morning.

The construction was to facilitate work for the Automated People Mover, a driver-less transit system designed to alleviate traffic around the airport in preparation for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

Around 11 a.m., LAX posted on X (formerly Twitter), “We are anticipating increased traffic congestion at LAX. Guests are encouraged to arrive early, pre-book parking and use Cell Phone Waiting Lots to help with vehicle traffic.”

The account added that the traffic may affect flight times.

At 1 p.m., the X account @FlyLAXstats posted that it was taking drivers roughly 52 minutes to get through the airport’s upper level and 20 minutes to get through the lower level. Earlier in the day, the upper level took as long as 91 minutes to get through.

One X user said people were abandoning their Ubers and walking to the airport.

“Absolutely horrendous traffic,” posted X user David Barnett. “More than an hour to go 1/2 mile. People walking with bags for miles. Flights being missed. Disgraceful.”

Other travelers posted about the “nightmare” situation on social media.