The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that the authority overseeing the Montreal airport plans to spend nearly $4-billion in a bid to reduce congestion and increase capacity at the country's No. 2 flight hub. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says that the announcement Thursday comes after rising passenger volumes and surging car traffic last summer prompted a wave of frustration among travellers trying to get their flights on time. Gridlock on the road leading to Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport last year routinely prompted car passengers to exit their vehicles and haul their bags along the highway off-ramp to the airport, particularly in late afternoon and early evening. The blueprint for the airport upgrades includes an expanded roadway running past the main entrance, new parking lots and drop-off areas, a satellite terminal and a connection to the REM commuter rail line. Travel rebounded after the pandemic nosedive, with a record 21 million travellers passing through the Montreal airport last year, up 32 per cent from 2022. Airport management is in favour of opening the floodgates to private capital once the work is done in order to finance more construction under consideration for 2035.