The Jackson-Evers International Airport announced this week the completion of a $19 million expansion of the parking garage, according to The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.).

Workers topped the garage with a third story, added elevators and walkways to connect it to the terminal building during the past year and a half.

The second and third stories will be devoted to public parking at $12 a day, The Clarion-Ledger reports.

The garage's bottom level was converted into rental-vehicle spaces, a move the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority figures will bring in more money and help repay the $19 million in bonds for the project.

A $3.50 per-rental car fee also will help repay the garage construction bonds. That fee has been in place since March 2005, according to the Airport Authority.

Currently, the rental car pickup and drop-off is on the terminal's east side and will now be used as a restricted lot for police, airport officials and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Although the garage was delayed more than a month by Hurricane Katrina, it's done on budget and in the one-year time frame the Airport Authority originally set aside.