--- In BATN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "3/1 Oakland Tribune" <batn@...> wrote: Published Wednesday, March 1, 2006, in the Oakland Tribune Port plan: Runway is key, or not Oakland airport growth will slow without strip, but regional approach more effective, study says By Paul T. Rosynsky Staff Writer OAKLAND -- Growth at Oakland International Airport will slow to a trickle in about 20 years if a new runway is not built in San Francisco Bay, a study by the Port of Oakland has concluded. But that is not prompting port officials to embark on a potentially controversial and costly quest to seek permission for another runway. What is really needed, port officials say, is a regional approach to addressing the growth of air travel in the Bay Area in the next two decades. "This is not a decision that Oakland can do on its own; it is a regional issue," Oakland International Airport Director Steve Grossman said. "It is expensive, and we do not know if it is environmentally doable." Future runway capacity is just one of many issues covered in the Oakland International Airport Master Plan, a study that serves as a road map for future airport development. In their first look at overall airport growth since at least 2003, airport officials found they will need a new terminal by 2010, more parking and a better system of taxiways throughout the 2,600-acre airport. But the 350-page report's recommendation against building a new runway is surprising because numerous studies have indicated runway capacity needs to be increased in the next decade if area airports are to continue the growth seen in the past 10 years. For years, runway expansion at Bay Area airports hasbeen one of the most talked about issues when it comes to regional transportation. Despite forecasts showing Oakland International Airport will have at least 30 million passengers a year passing though it by 2025, the report advises against building a new runway in part because of the difficulty San Francisco International Airport encountered several years ago in its futile effort to expand runway capacity. Grossman said the port also does not have the "several billion dollars" needed to build a new runway. Even if it did, he said, the project surely would be held up in court for years by neighbors in both Alameda and San Leandro, who already feel the airport is too big and encroaches on their properties. "The lesson that we all learned was that you can't go at it on your own," Grossman said. "We certainly were paying attention (to SFO)." San Francisco officials spent almost $80 million fighting to win approval for a new runway in San Francisco Bay. Environmental objections to filling part of the Bay for a runway and to the pollution from increased air traffic scuttled SFO's plan. "We were pleased with that one," said Red Wetherill, a member of the plan's advisory committee and an Alameda resident. Without the runway, air traffic at Oakland International Airport should level out in 2025. As more and more planes use the one runway at the airport, it would become too crowded, causing delays for both takeoffs and landings. Eventually, Grossman said, airlines will stop adding new flights to and from Oakland. Rather than work on the project alone, Grossman said a regional group, such as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, should take the lead. Such a group could figure out how to use all three Bay Area airports to accommodate the expected growth of air travel. In addition to runway capacity, the report found Oakland International Airport will need at least 20 more gates by 2010. Those gates would have to be built as part of a new terminal, which the plan said should go next to Terminal 1. Grossman said planning for that new terminal will begin immediately since the master plan serves as the first step in the process. "We will be programming, figuring out how big the building would be, and how to pay for it," he said. "Right now, we are doing our homework." --- End forwarded message ---