CAA: GA News, "Residents Can View Plans for Dallas-Area Airport Expansion"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Monday, November 4, 2002

Residents Can View Plans for Dallas-Area Airport Expansion
The Dallas (TX) Morning News


Options for expanding the runway and developing vacant property into
revenue-generating hangars are the focus of a master plan being
developed for the Grand Prairie Municipal Airport. 

The Kansas City consulting firm creating the 20-year master plan has
identified two options for expanding the 4,000-foot runway and three
options for constructing additional hangars at the facility on Great
Southwest Parkway. 

On Wednesday, residents may view those options and discuss them with
consultant Mike Dmyterko, senior planner at Coffman Associates. 

The meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Grand Prairie Senior Center, 925
Conover Drive. 

The runway could be extended to 4,600 feet in one option and to 4,750
feet in a second one, Mr. Dmyterko said. 

But unlike the existing master plan, the extension would keep the runway
within the current fence line. 

That plan, adopted in 1995, called for extending the runway to 5,000
feet. That would have required additional land south of the airport and
the relocation of a segment of Mayfield Road. 

The plan, which drew heavy neighborhood opposition at the time, is no
longer feasible, said airport director Loretta Scott. 

Federal Aviation Administration officials have indicated they would not
approve the expansion because of the Grand Prairie airport's proximity
to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. 

Officials there also have said a 5,000-foot runway would probably draw
larger and faster planes and increase the risk of those planes entering
D/FW's airspace. 

"I don't know if it was ever decided, but a couple of years ago we
realized we're going to have to give up the fight," Ms. Scott said. 

As a result, the master plan needs revision. 

"We have to update the master plan to what we reasonably can expect to
be able to do," Ms. Scott said. 

Expanding the runway to 4,600 feet or 4,750 feet would improve safety
for planes already using the airport but not provide enough additional
runway space to alter the type of planes flying in and out, Ms. Scott
said. 

"This doesn't invite bigger, more sophisticated aircraft," Ms. Scott
said. "It's just that there's an extra few feet if you need it from a
safety standpoint."

The Grand Prairie airport is one of the busiest general aviation
airports in the state, with 94,634 takeoffs and landings in its peak
year, 1999. 

Numbers were down recently because of construction and repairs on the
runways, as well restrictions on flights after the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11. 

There are 181 hangars at the 162-acre airport. More than 100 people are
on an 18-month waiting list for a hangar. 

Each of the three hangar options proposes additional hangars to the
north and south of the existing hangar facilities, with varying
quantities of hangars and hangar styles. 

"The three alternatives show how to lay out future hangar facilities and
how much space they can obtain from different layouts," Mr. Dmyterko
said. 

"There is a limited amount of space on this airport, and they have to be
careful how they use it."

Hangar rental revenues enable the airport to support itself, unlike most
airports of similar size, he said. 

"This airport makes money and does not take funds from the city," Mr.
Dmyterko said. "They want to make sure that continues."


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