The Daily Dig
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved $75 million in near-term improvements to Terminal B at Newark Liberty International Airport, with work launching this year.
This is the first phase of a broader three-year, $200 million program already included in the agency's approved 2026-2035 Capital Plan. The full program is designed to modernize and maintain the facility until a planned new Terminal B opens in the mid-2030s.
Terminal B opened in 1973 and was built to handle roughly 6.8 million passengers annually. In 2025, it moved about 11.5 million. The Port Authority is addressing the strain on aging infrastructure while long-term planning for a full replacement terminal continues under the EWR Vision Plan.
This first phase targets the terminal's most visible pressure points: gate areas, restrooms, high-traffic circulation spaces, terminal frontage, lighting, and the elevator, escalator, and boarding bridge systems most critical to daily operations.
The full $200 million program also covers new seating, flooring, and lighting at gates; additional escalator and elevator replacements; ADA accessibility improvements; HVAC upgrades; and baggage handling refurbishment.
The longer-term picture is a complete overhaul of Newark Liberty. Terminal A opened in January 2023. A joint venture of Tutor Perini and O&G Industries broke ground in October 2025 on the $3.5 billion AirTrain Newark replacement, a 2.5-mile automated rail system replacing the original system that has been running since 1996.
Snapshot:
Project: Terminal B Near-Term Improvements
Owner: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Airport: Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Location: Newark, New Jersey
Phase 1 Value: $75 million
Total Program Value: $200 million
Program Duration: Three years
Capital Plan: Port Authority 2026-2035 ($45 billion total)
Phase 1 Scope: Gate areas, restrooms, high-traffic circulation spaces, terminal frontage, lighting, elevators, escalators, boarding bridges
Full Program Scope: Gate seating, flooring, and lighting; escalator and elevator replacements; ADA upgrades; restroom renovations; boarding bridge upgrades; HVAC systems; baggage handling refurbishment
Status: Approved; work launching 2026
Terminal Opened: 1973
Design Capacity: ~6.8 million passengers annually
2025 Throughput: ~11.5 million passengers
Long-Term Plan: New Terminal B (mid-2030s) as part of EWR Vision Plan
Related Project: AirTrain Newark replacement, $3.5 billion, Tutor Perini and O&G Industries JV, groundbreaking October 2025
TheJobWalk Thoughts
Terminal B was built for roughly 6.8 million annual passengers and handled about 11.5 million in 2025. That sustained overuse puts every building system under pressure, which is why the Port Authority is spending $200 million on a facility it plans to replace. Critical infrastructure cannot be left to deteriorate while a decade-long development program plays out.
A three-year program of this scope will likely generate multiple procurement windows rather than a single bid cycle. Mechanical, electrical, and vertical transportation contractors should be tracking Port Authority procurement closely. The confirmed scope across elevators, escalators, HVAC, boarding bridges, and baggage handling maps directly to those trades.
The timing here is worth paying attention to. The AirTrain Newark replacement broke ground in October 2025 and the Terminal B upgrade program is launching this year. That puts two substantial scopes running concurrently in the same market, competing for the same labor pool and subcontractor capacity. For contractors already working in the region, that overlap has real implications for pricing and resource planning. For those looking to get into this market, it signals broad trade demand across multiple scopes at the same time, with a project pipeline that extends well into the 2030s.
