Airport Authority Board Delays

Posted on March 21, 2008 by Alan Ackerman


Crain’s Detroit Business, March 21, 2008

The Wayne County Airport Authority board delayed a vote Thursday on a controversial $3.6 billion, 20-year master improvement plan for Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The authority, which governs the airport’s operation, cited public desire for more time to learn about the plan. There are mounting objections from local municipalities, especially the city of Romulus, that decry the displacement of homes, business and schools for a new 10,000-foot runway.

About 200 people, including residents and elected officials, gathered in a meeting room at the Westin Hotel in the airport’s McNamara Terminal in expectation of a presentation by the authority, local officials, and then a vote.

Eminent domain would likely be required to complete the expansion. About 800 residences would need to be demolished, including apartment buildings and single-family homes, to make way for the runway.

-The meaning of the delay and uncertainty will only create a blighting influence, both emotionally and physically, to the areas businesses and residents. It will be tough to transact business or sell a business or a residential parcel when one knows there is a condemnation just down the road.

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Charlotte Municipal Airport Expansion

Posted on May 14, 2007 by Alan Ackerman

The Lansing State Journal, May 13, 2007

Abut 200 people attended an April 30 forum in which Mead & hunt employees presented their final studies for the airport relocation.  The two proposed plans for Fitch H. Beach Municipal Airport are as follows. 

  • A north/south expansion at the airport's current location requires rerouting, closing or adding a traffict tunnel to Island Highway, a primary county road.  Cost is estimated between $38 million and $63.5 million.
  • A relocation of the airport to Eaton Township would involve purchasing 15 homes and occupying 360 acres of farmland.  An estimated cost is $35.5 million.  

The expansion would extend the runway from 3,500 feet to 5,000 feet.

-This is illustrative of how difficult it is to place an airport. Charlotte desires to move to a "regional" program, but faces the conflict of being less than 30 miles from the recently enlarged Lansing Capital City Airport. Being between Battle Creek and Lansing on I-69 makes it difficult to come to a final decision as to not only what to build but where to build it.

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