HONOLULU -- There was good news Tuesday for anyone fed up with finding a parking space in the always crowded interisland parking terminal at Honolulu International Airport.

The state broke ground for a new parking garage that will add almost 2,000 more parking spots to the 4,500 current spots.

The new eight-story parking garage will be connected to the Inter-Island garage with a bridge that will be able to accommodate two lanes of traffic and a pedestrian walkway.

The airport currently has 4,500 parking stalls. This will add another 1,800.

The transportation department, however, warned travelers that they would be closing the entire lot for a year to build a new parking structure.

All 174 spaces in the employee lot would be open to the public when construction closes the garage, officials said.

The new parking structure will be completed in December 2008.

The governor also said she would release $59 million for other improvements at the airport including a new baggage scanner, more modern air conditioning and new video display signs to better tell passengers about departure gates and baggage claim.

The improvements are part of a 12-year plan to modernize the airport.