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Imperial county officials push for airport site
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
As residents throughout San Diego County continue to discuss a new international airport site, through town hall events being conducted with the San Diego Airport Authority, more and more support is being voiced for preserving the pristine Back Country and picking a different site.
The next Fly Into the Future town hall evening will be held tonight, Thursday, Aug. 18 in Point Loma. Residents from areas all over the county are expected to travel there to take part in the question and answer event.
“The remote sites are not being very well-received,” said San Diego Airport Authority president Thella Bowens. “We’re hearing a lot of people say that these sites are just too far away, and they probably wouldn’t use them.”
“Not only the distance, though,” Bowens said, “A lot of people are concerned about environmental impacts and are saying that we need to keep the Back Country wild.”
“That’s why we're doing these things (town halls),” Bowens said. “We want to know what people think and hear what they have to say.”
The airport authority has winnowed its list of 32 potential airport sites to four civilian and five military sites. The military sites are considered highly unlikely, leaving the authority with Imperial County, Campo/Boulevard, and a Lindbergh expansion as its options. A site near Borrego Springs is officially on the list, but is not being studied as a serious contender.
Although there is little apparent public support for an airport in Imperial County, this option has been strongly supported by one influential backer. U.S. Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego), whose district includes all of the farm dominated Imperial County, has strongly supported choosing an Imperial site.
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| The
international airports currently in use by Southern
California residents. Imperial County officials argue
that placing a new facility in Imperial County would
keep Lindbergh Field viable for western San Diego County
commerce and travel, while offering Imperial County and
eastern San Diego County a viable alternative to driving
to downtown San Diego. El Centro and San Diego are
approximately equidistant from Buckman Springs Road. |
To underscore that support, Imperial County supervisors recently voted to put an advisory measure on the Nov. 8 special election ballot, asking their voters if they support the airport effort.
“There is not one doubt that it will be approved,” said one Imperial County Supervisor of the November vote. “An airport would be huge for the economic development of this area.”
“No one in San Diego County wants a new airport,” he said. “They want to leave Lindbergh where it is. But if there is a true desire for a real international airport, instead of a single-runway airport like Lindbergh that can't handle anything larger than a Boeing 757 because of the runway length, we are the answer.”
For people in the incorporated areas of the county, travel distance to an Imperial County airport site would be a major problem. Some travelers could spend more than two hours driving to the remote site. One possibility that Filner is pushing for is a high-speed rail transportation system.
The recent highway bill signed by the President includes $800,000 study a high-speed rail line for the San Diego region. Transportation planners had hoped for federal money to analyze a 175-mph “magnetic levitation transportation project” — or MAGLEV — that might zip air travelers from San Diego to a new airport in Imperial County, or along Interstate 5 to John Wayne Airport, Long Beach Airport or LAX.
However, according to the wording of the bill, the money is to be used strictly for studying a rail line to the Imperial Valley desert, due to the efforts, in large part, by Filner.
Filner has long argued that an airport in his district makes sense, taking advantage of a sprawling landscape and good flight conditions. The influx of jobs from the airport would also boost the local economy.
However, Filner has had a tough time convincing airport planners. At a spring meeting, he criticized the airport authority for so quickly dismissing the idea of a high-speed rail.
Authority consultants have said it's unlikely that even a high-speed train would make travel to the desert appealing. In the best case, authority officials expect only 10 to 15 percent of air travelers would use the rail. The project could also cost upwards of $140 million per mile to build. Regardless, the study of a high-speed rail to Imperial County will go forward with this funding.
The airport authority has set an April 2006 deadline to come up with its choice for a new airport site. The issue will appear on the November 2006 ballot. So far, far, no one knows what it will say, according to airport authority officials.
The Alpine Sun will partner with the airport authority in hosting a local town hall in early November. The exact date and time will be determined soon.
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Christy Scott
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