Newark Liberty airport after a snowfall.

Nearly $500 million in construction projects was approved by officials as part of an overall $2.3 billion Terminal A redevelopment program at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Action in early December by the New York and New Jersey Port Authority’s board approves landside and airside work as part of a project to build a one million square foot terminal, accommodate 33 aircraft gates, provide a more efficient roadway network and create parking for about 3,000 vehicles.

Work under the recent contract includes paving work and the milling of existing pavement; the demolition of buildings, concourses and satellites; installation of a new drainage system; construction of four new bridge structures; and taxi lane lighting and new curbing.

The new passenger terminal, to be known as Terminal One, is scheduled for a partial opening in 2021, with the facility expected to be fully operational in 2022. The redevelopment program was approved by the Port Authority board in March 2017.

Newark Liberty is experiencing about a 7 percent growth in passenger traffic in 2017, and is on pace to greatly exceed the record 40 million customers it served in 2016, according to Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole.

An additional $250 million was authorized for two new projects directly tied to terminal redevelopment: $175 million to pave 40 airside acres to create aircraft parking positions, and $75 million for foundation work on new terminal frontage to accommodate a future AirTrain alignment. These projects will be built by program contractors along with the Terminal A airside and landside work.

In addition, the board approved $8 million to analyze the feasibility of consolidating rental car facilities (CONRAC) to centralize operations, as well as to design and build a new 3,000-space public parking garage. Pending the outcome of the feasibility study, a development agreement could come later in 2018.

The new Terminal One will have the capacity to accommodate 13.6 million passengers. The current facility, opened in 1973, was designed to handle a maximum of nine million passengers per year.