Posted on 06/21/2005 6:11:56 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
Airport planners have come up with an idea for developing a second runway at Lindbergh Field without Marine Corps property, but some say the notion is so outlandish it actually helps make the case for building a new regional airport elsewhere.
A committee of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority yesterday recommended that the full board of directors authorize additional study of the concept for a new, 10,000-foot runway through the Midway District.
Committee members aren't yet treating the concept as a serious alternative to proposed airport sites in Boulevard and Imperial County, and openly fretted over misunderstandings with residents of Point Loma and Mission Hills.
However, some said a more detailed analysis may help convince the public Lindbergh Field is not suitable for a second runway.
"We do not need to alarm a bunch of people," said William Lynch, a member of the full board who sat in on the committee meeting. "The possibility is probably somewhere between remote, slim and none."
The 3-1 recommendation, with San Diego Councilman Ralph Inzunza opposed, goes to the full board July 7.
In the same vote, the committee also recommended performing no additional study of a proposed airport site in Ocotillo Wells, near Borrego Springs, which would put the site on ice until further notice.
Additionally, the panel said, sites in Boulevard and southwestern Imperial County should stay on the list for further review.
The Lindbergh idea emerged from a consultant's analysis of "out-of-the-box" options for expanding the capacity of San Diego International without using land occupied by the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Expanding Lindbergh is one of nine options in the airport agency's site-selection project.
In its current single-runway configuration, Lindbergh Field is believed to have a practical capacity of about 24 million passengers a year. The passenger count for 2004 totaled more than 16.3 million; the agency estimates demand ultimately could reach 35 million.
The choices for a second runway were severely limited by rising terrain, new noise impacts and the need for land occupied by homes and businesses.
The result was a runway sandwiched into a densely developed region between Interstates 5 and 8, north of the Marine Corps training depot.
As imagined, the footprint for the new airstrip and its support facilities includes the ipayOne Center (the former San Diego Sports Arena), the Midway Drive post office, Sharp Memorial Hospital, the Liberty Station redevelopment project on former Naval Training Center land, and everything along Rosecrans Street northeast of Nimitz Boulevard.
The second runway, as conceived, would be used primarily for departures, over the ocean. The plan also envisions the existing runway being extended 4,000 feet.
Inzunza questioned whether it was fair to residents of the area to treat the proposal seriously.
Gregory Wellman, from the consulting team Ricondo & Associates, told the committee the analysis would help illustrate the enormous trade-offs required to make Lindbergh Field meet the region's future air transportation needs.
Committee members saw shortcomings right away. The enormous commercial development in the Midway/Sports Arena area would make land there "very expensive," lawyer Paul A. Peterson said.
It's not yet clear whether the proposed expansion of Lindbergh would pass tests used to rule out two dozen other proposals, such as those for Ramona, Oceanside and the Silver Strand.
Five military sites, including the Marines' Miramar air station, are off the table until November's expected completion of a nationwide base-closure review.
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Constructing a new airport a $50 cab ride away from the city in the boondocks will really hurt tourism.
I'd rather fly into Long Beach, rent a car, and see the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway. I've done it, it's gorgeous!
Don't fix what ain't broken.
I don't know, I kinda thought relocating the airport 80 miles east in Boulevard was a better idea. /sarcasm
Because Southwest Airlines insists on flying 737s. They also have stated they will refuse to move to another airport unless Limbergh is closed.
Wasn't the Marine Corps property on the preliminary base closing list? Why don't they wait a few months and see what becomes available.
This would make Pt. Loma into a virtual island. I don't think that will fly. They would have to buy a lot of really expensive realestate and mitigate noise on even more houses.
This airport will stay put and they should give preference to larger planes. Charge the same landing fee and drive the small planes out of the market.
It is so convenient that the politicians have dragged their feet on any change. Now the only possible convenient site is Miramar and the Navy and Corps don't want to give that up. Long Beach and John Wayne are both alternatives that are more convenient than going over the mountains.
Then SWAL doesn't need extended runways.
I was in San Diego right before they announced the base closings, and a lot of folks down there had their hungry eyes on Miramar, best known as the place where much of that chic-flick "Top Gun" was filmed. Pretty close to downtown SD. Mut the USMC wants Miramar. It's southern location is important.
Orange County, John Wayne is closer to SAN, and a lot more fun to fly into and out of! Short runways, and snotty rich folks on the take off path make for fun.
On take off, you sit on the end of the runway, brakes on, engines go to full, the brakes release, and you careen down the runway. Take off is much steeper than at other airports, and once you get about 2500 or so feet up, the engines throttle way back, for a moment you feel weightless. Once you cross over the ocean, the engines are throttled back up, pushing you back in your seat, and off you go. Its real fun in the back of a 757!
Miramar sits next to Scripps Ranch, a very very wealthy neighborhood (my brother lives there), it ain't gonna happen, NIMBYs.
It'll never happen. 1st, It's only one of only two recruit depots where we train scumbags to become Marines and 2nd, its all historical buildings.
A short one with absolutely lousy approaches to boot. I love Sand Diego, but that airport has to go. Yes, it's nice having it close to town, but you have all the room in the world a few miles East to do something nicer and SAFER.
I recall a flight from San Diego to Pittsburgh that ended up having to land for fuel in Detroit after a half-hour landing delay in Pittsburgh due to storms. The pilot apologized for the extra delay, but explained that with a full load of passengers, they could not take on enough fuel due to the short runways at Lindberg.
But due to the size of the 737, more flights are required. They are limited to by the number of landing and takeoff slots available. There are only so many planes that can take off and land during a day.
I'm still pissed off that Clinton decided to make the Homestead Air Base south of Miami a National Park. South Florida REALLY NEEDS another airport and that would've been a perfect location.
BTW: Have you heard that SW wants to move to Boeing Field in Seattle starting in 2006?
Yes. That's typical. They like to operate out of airports that are too small to handle their competitors' traffic in addition to Southwest's.
Understood. That means more runways, but not necessarily longer ones.
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