Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994 TAG: 9406300119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The House of Representatives has approved $350,000 in planning money for a 100-foot, $4 million tower to be built by the end of the century. If the Senate approves, as expected, the airport could begin planning it by the end of this year.
The Senate approved the spending item last year, but the House blocked the funding, and it was dropped by a conference committee that was considering the Federal Aviation Administration's budget. Because the tower is an FAA facility, the agency would pay all of its construction costs.
"We have momentum - put it that way - going into this process. We're in the home stretch,'' said Mark Courtney, director of planning and market development for the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission.
"The new ... control tower is needed to improve safety and operational standards at the airport. In addition, a first-rate, fully modernized airport is necessary to attract industry and new jobs to our area, and this improvement is needed to keep our airport competitive," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke. He and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, spearheaded the appropriation drive in the House.
Tim Phillips, a Goodlatte spokesman, said he expects a vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee in July. Both Sens. Charles Robb, D-Va., and John Warner, R-Va., have written to the committee supporting the project, Phillips said.
The airport's terminal was replaced five years ago, but the old terminal still houses the air traffic control system in a 38-foot tower. A new tower would allow the airport to tear down the aging, otherwise empty terminal and develop the 40 acres the building sits on.
The land would be turned over to such aviation-related uses as additional hangars, maintenance or fueling facilities, runway space or parking areas for planes, Courtney said.
The old facility also fails to meet FAA standards for airport control towers, said John Hinkle, the FAA's tower chief.
The FAA likes the entire airport to be in view of controllers, but their view of an airplane taxiway is partially obstructed by a USAir hangar. The old terminal is also closer to the runway than the FAA allows.
"Just for the additional height, visibility is going to improve," Hinkle said.
The FAA's Airways Facilities office, now housed off the airport property, would be located in the new tower, he said.
In recent years, the airport has seen steady gains in airline passenger and air freight traffic. So far this year, passenger traffic has increased 15 percent from 1993. Courtney attributed most of that to lower fares and increased competition among airlines.
Freight has increased 18 percent from last year, Courtney said. Those gains are partially owing to a huge United Parcel Service distribution center nearby that was opened in 1990. Other freight companies have switched from truck to airline freight as their operations in the region have grown.
by CNB