Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s bleak assessment of La Guardia Airport as “third-world” propelled a complete reconstruction. But the path to a modern La Guardia was not supposed to include travelers dragging luggage through gridlocked traffic on a highway to catch their flights.

Now it does.

The most ambitious airport project in the country, an eight-year, $8 billion plan to turn La Guardia into a first-class travel hub, has barely begun, but social media has already been flooded with tales and images of taxis and buses mired in traffic jams, unable to get anywhere near terminals to pick up and drop off passengers.

On Monday, a particularly bad day, some harried travelers abandoned cars and navigated the clogged Grand Central Parkway — the main highway serving La Guardia — on foot with suitcases in tow. Such traffic debacles have become so common that seasoned fliers and travel bloggers have recommended avoiding La Guardia altogether, perhaps for years to come.

The Transportation Security Administration has warned travelers to arrive at La Guardia “a minimum of 2-2 ½ hours” before takeoff, and maybe even earlier around holiday weekends.