"Fort Lauderdale Airport runway project in limbo as Broward agrees to study alternatives"

Wednesday, May 29, 2002

Airport runway project in limbo as Broward agrees to study alternatives
By Scott Wyman 
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel 


For eight years, construction of a longer southern runway has been the
cornerstone of plans to ease congestion at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
International Airport. No longer.

Broward County commissioners bowed to the criticism of nearby residents
and environmentalists and agreed Tuesday to a major review of the
airport's expansion plans. The study will attempt to find alternative
ways to handle the growing number of travelers and will take three years
to complete.
 
It was a major victory for runway opponents concerned that a longer
south runway will damage nearby nature preserves and increase
neighborhood noise. For those who want a larger airport, the only solace
is that the county will continue to pursue federal permits and funding
for the runway.

What a new study can accomplish is uncertain, and some worried that
delays could harm tourism and cause airlines to rethink service to Fort
Lauderdale.

Airport administrators said every alternative has been studied and
rejected. They also expressed concern that the study could delay
extending the runway until after congestion reaches extreme levels
because the federal government will be hesitant to front money for a
project that may not go forward.

"We don't have any other options, but we know we are going to continue
to grow," said Commissioner Ben Graber, who urged his colleagues to be
cautious about retreating from the runway extension. "We ultimately are
going to have to expand the airport. Doing nothing is not an option for
us because we are going to have a serious problem in a couple years."

The county plans had been for the longer southern runway to be in place
by 2008 to relieve demands on the airport's primary northern landing
strip. Delays in takeoffs and landings will begin to reach unacceptable
levels this year in terms of cost to the airlines. The problem will
worsen rapidly because the number of passengers using the airport is
expected to double by 2015, according to the Federal Aviation
Administration.

By 2008, delays at the airport will cost the airline industry more than
$60 million, the FAA projects.

A federal review of the project should be completed by fall, and
officials hoped to begin work by 2004.

Runway foes said Tuesday's decision was critical because the new study
will look at the airport expansion in terms of how the county wants to
grow in general and will address ways to make any project more
environmentally friendly.

"They are saying that they've heard so much about the environmental
impact and growth that is not going to stop that it was time to pause
and reflect," said Lisa Baumbach-Reardon of the Audubon Society. "This
is a major, major turnaround from just a year ago."

As part of the study, the airport will hire environmental consultants
who help find ways to make airports greener as they grow. Their ideas on
other expansion projects have included the use of alternative-fuel
vehicles in airport operations and changes in aircraft taxiing
procedures.

The scope of the review will be laid out over the next six to nine
months. It will then take two more years to complete and cost between $2
million and $3 million.

Commissioners unanimously agreed to Tuesday's decision, but divisions
exist under the surface over what happens next. Some, like Suzanne
Gunzburger and John Rodstrom, represent the areas most affected by the
runway extension and are ardent supporters of a sweeping review, while
others, like Graber and Josephus Eggelletion, expressed caution.

Graber warned that any delay or retreat could harm the area's
tourism-based economy because half of all tourists fly here. And
Eggelletion questioned the impact that a congested airport would have on
Broward's growing Hispanic and Caribbean communities.

Aviation Director Bill Sherry told commissioners that airlines would
become increasingly reluctant to add flights and could pull back as
congestion worsens. He said travelers to the Caribbean and South America
may have to use Miami International Airport rather than have more
options in Fort Lauderdale.

A recently created advisory board suggested the new review. Airport
administrators said they were willing to review alternatives to a
southern runway considering the level of public concern even though they
said no new options exist.

Dozens of other ideas have been studied and dismissed as ineffective
over the past decade, including two northern runways, a longer diagonal
runway and a new airport in west Broward.

One recent suggestion has been a medium-sized southern runway that could
be used by commuter aircraft. But that idea was rejected in 1988 because
it would not reduce congestion enough and likely would not be used by
all commuter planes.

Gunzburger, though, said a fresh look at the plans are necessary because
much has changed since the commission's initial decision in favor of a
south runway in 1994.

"This is something that will significantly affect our quality of life,"
she said. "This started eight years ago, but our entire county has
changed in that time."


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