KSMF looks west for new runway

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http://www.sacbee.com/content/travel...-8421263c.html

Airport looks west for its new runway

After more than two years of study, county airport officials are
proposing a new runway on the western boundary of Sacramento
International Airport to give the airport more capacity to keep up with
regional growth.

The $94 million plan, to be submitted to the Board of Supervisors for
approval next month, brings with it inevitable debate.

In choosing the site, 1,200 feet west of the airport's westside runway,
county airport officials say they can avoid having to buy a chunk of
the Teal Bend Golf Course, which would be required if they choose
another alternative runway site slightly farther west.

But some critics -- including Supervisor Illa Collin -- argue that in
going west with its new runway, the county is turning its back on the
best runway site, to the east.

Airport officials have acknowledged that the east side could be a
better spot, allowing a longer runway with more independence from
existing runways. But they say they fear it would cost substantially
more because the county would have to purchase land from a group of
developers who plan an industrial office park, Metro Air Park, there.

Supervisors voted 3-2 in 2001 not to consider an east runway. Collin,
who dissented in that vote, argues that the county risks shortchanging
its airport's future if an east runway isn't studied.

"It's the best option," she said this week. "All the other options are
bad options."

A nearby Garden Highway resident, Kevin McRae of the Sacramento
Riverfront Property Owners' Association, argues the county should
reconsider. An east runway would likely cause fewer noise issues for
riverfront residents, he said.

"I think the supervisors aren't representing all public interests when
they refuse to consider a runway east of the existing runways," he
said. "There are no physical constraints on the east side. The river
constrains the west runway."

County Executive Terry Schutten countered in a recent interview that
officials have worked with the Metro Air Park group for years on
getting their industrial project going, and the county would be acting
in bad faith if it decided now to take the land away for a runway.

Representatives of the 130-member Metro Air Park group, which includes
Buzz Oates, Frank Ramos, Al Montna and Jack Sioukas, met with county
officials before the 2001 board decision, and issued a statement saying
they objected to an eastside runway alternative.

"Basically over a decade of work would be thrown out" if the county put
the new runway to the east, said Metro Air Park project manager Gerry
Kamilos.

The development group has obtained its permits and hopes to get $60
million in bond financing in the coming weeks to begin work on the
site, Kamilos said.

County airport official Rob Leonard this week said the western runway
being proposed would work well for the airport, fitting future needs at
considerably less cost.

County airport officials will hold a public forum, 4:30 p.m. to 6:30
p.m. today at the KVIE community room, 2596 Capitol Oaks Drive in South
Natomas, to display plans for the runway, as well as conceptual plans
for a new terminal to replace aging Terminal B, and other improvements
tentatively envisioned in a proposed new 20-year airport master plan.

Although the new runway location is being decided now, it likely won't
be built for 10 years, airport officials said, because the process of
local and federal runway approvals is extensive.

Leonard said the estimated $94 million for a new runway includes
taxiways and electrical and lighting systems.

Whereas freeways are a few inches thick, runways must be 6 to 8 feet
thick to withstand pounding from landing jets, he said.

"It's not like any freeway you've ever seen," Leonard said.

BL.
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Brad Littlejohn | Email:
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