Board Approves Longer Runway at Warwick, R.I., Airport

Posted on Thu, Mar. 25, 2004 

Board Approves Longer Runway at Warwick, R.I., Airport

By Tony De Paul, Providence Journal, R.I. Knight
Ridder/Tribune Business News


Mar. 25--WARWICK, R.I. - Over strongly worded
objections from City Hall, the Airport Corporation
voted yesterday to seek federal approval to extend
T.F. Green Airport's main runway to 9,500 feet.

The 6-to-1 vote mirrored the configuration of
appointments on the board: Governor Carcieri's six
appointees, yes; Mayor Scott Avedisian's appointee,
no.

In a statement read into the record by Avedisian's
planning director, Mark Carruolo, the Republican mayor
said the board was "preying on people's fears of
economic ruin" if Green does not build a longer
runway.

The cost, he predicted, "is sure to grow to a quarter
of a billion dollars."

City Council President Joseph Solomon told the board
it was "unconscionable" to vote on building a longer
runway without "baseline" information on whether the
current level of jet traffic is a danger to public
health and safety.

All officials and members of the public who addressed
the board were opposed to airport expansion.

The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and other
proponents say a longer runway would bring in nonstop
flights to the West Coast. Opponents say more
convenient air service, if realized, would be
outweighed by more traffic of all kinds along with
more noise and pollution for Warwick and Cranston
residents.

Yesterday's vote adopted a 9,500-foot main runway as
part of the airport master plan, and asked the Federal
Aviation Administration to begin an environmental
study of the project.

If all approvals and financing fall into place,
airport consultant John van Woensel estimated Green
could open an extended main runway by 2010. He called
that "a bit of an aggressive schedule."

It is also possible, he said, that the approval
process could be much slower and a longer runway might
not come into service until 2019.

A draft master plan adopted by the board in 2002 had
envisioned opening a 9,500-foot main runway by 2017.
The proposal generated little controversy at the time
because it was too distant to be included in the FAA's
environmental study of more immediate needs.

Yesterday's vote changed that.

After van Woensel briefed the board on three scenarios
for extending the 7,200-foot main runway to 9,500
feet, the board eliminated the one deemed most
destructive to wetlands and asked the FAA to study the
remaining two.

The scenarios adopted as part of the master plan
yesterday were the so-called Southern Shift and
North/South Shift.

The former would extend the runway 2,667 feet to the
south, crossing Main Avenue. The latter would extend
1,958 feet to the south, crossing Main Avenue, and 376
feet to the north, crossing Airport Road.

The Southern Shift would avoid wetlands entirely, thus
disarming the only check and balance the City Council
holds over airport expansion: its power to veto
construction in wetlands, even on state property.

Though less troublesome to the Airport Corporation
politically, the Southern Shift is also the scenario
most destructive to housing. It would condemn 359
houses and make it necessary to soundproof 360 others
that are not currently eligible for soundproofing.

Avedisian's appointee, Robert Sangster, unsuccessfully
urged the board to stick with the 2002 version of the
master plan, which called for extending both major
runways to 7,500 feet and staying within the airport
fence.

Opponents of expansion had considered that draft a
minor victory, but it was quickly set aside by
Carcieri, through his newly appointed chairman, James
Rosati.

At the start of yesterday's meeting, Rosati offered a
concession to airport critics: he read a statement
committing the Airport Corporation to financing the
first study of air pollution "in and around" the
airport.

The state Department of Environmental Management
recently applied for a $500,000 federal grant to do
such a study, demanded for years by local officials
and residents. If the DEM fails to win the grant,
Rosati said, the Airport Corporation will budget up to
$300,000 for a study in the fiscal year set to start
July 1.

 

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