Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport Showcases Expansion Projects

March 1, 2004

Airport Showcases Expansion Projects
News-Daily.com, U.S. 
 
Representatives from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
International Airport were at the state Capitol
building on Monday to explain its new construction
projects, passing out information and answering
questions from state legislators.

As the airport continues work on its fifth runway and
its new international East terminal, the airport
wanted an opportunity to let the public and lawmakers
know what the projects would mean for Georgia, said
Lina James, the airport's special events manager. 

 
"We're so busy with these expansion projects," she
said. "And people need to know what's going on with
the airport because we're all impacted."

The information session came a week after the airport
reported near-record passenger traffic for last year,
when about 79 million people traveled through the
airport.

General Manager Ben Decosta said that, with airport
traffic approaching its "pre-9/11" levels, the airport
is planning on starting work on a new South terminal
in 2010.

"It will be a domestic terminal with 30 gates," he
said. "It will be connected to the existing terminal
structure by a people mover."

 
 
The airport expects the East terminal, which it is
working on now, to be open sometime between 2010 and
2012, depending on how much demand exists for the
terminal.

The new fifth runway is scheduled for completion in
2006, but some Clayton County residents are wishing
construction was already over.

Many residents of the Cherry Hills subdivision and
other surrounding neighborhoods have complained about
the noise and dust from the construction, and they
worry about additional noise that will result when the
runway is operational.

Doug Strachan, a noise mitigation specialist for the
airport, said some residents want funding for noise
reduction when the runway is finished, but the airport
has to wait on revised noise contour maps before they
can ask the federal government for any further
funding.

"The (noise mitigation) program can't do anything
until they get the new maps," he said.

The revision of the maps is part of a study the
airport is conducting with local governments to
examine noise caused by the airport.

"This study is a way for everybody to get together and
figure out how we can reduce airport noise," he said.

Of all the surrounding cities and counties, Strachan
said College Park has the strictest noise mitigation
rules in its building codes.

"We're always encouraging local government to do what
they can," he said. "(Reducing noise) is a shared
responsibility."

Strachan said local governments can also address noise
concerns through their land use policies, which
Clayton County is in the process of revising this
year.
 
 
   

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