THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140349
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Extending an existing runway at Kinston Jetport instead of building a new one could save the proposed Global TransPark air cargo facility millions of dollars, officials said.
Competitive pressures and potential cost savings prompted directors of the Global TransPark Authority to consider new runway alignments Tuesday for the proposed facility.
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., chairman of the board of directors, said engineers should consider extending the existing runway from 7,500 feet to about 11,500 feet, the distance needed for Boeing 747 cargo jets to take off and land.
The directors told staff members to explore the alternative, which could eliminate the need for a third runway, said authority spokesman James Sughrue.
Building a new runway would take about three years.
``We don't have cost figures yet, but we're pretty confident we've found a way to save tens of millions of dollars and have an international runway sooner,'' Sughrue said after the meeting in Raleigh.
The existing runway is being extended to 8,400 feet with a $4.85 million grant obtained recently from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Under the TransPark's master plan, the runway was to be upgraded into a taxiway for a new, parallel runway 11,500 feet long, Sughrue said.
Another taxiway was to be constructed on the opposite side of the new runway. In total, the master plan called for three runway strips.
Instead, the authority is considering upgrading the existing runway and putting a parallel taxiway just north, Sughrue said.
Sughrue said the change could delay the required Environmental Impact Statement by 30 to 60 days, until June or July.
The cost of the main runway included under the master plan was projected at $70 million. Up to 90 percent of that cost would be eligible for federal funding, meaning the state would have to come up with about $7 million, Sughrue said.
``It appears to us, if you're going to go to Washington to ask for money, you are best to go for the smallest amount you can,'' he said. by CNB