Input sought for airport master plan

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 6/18/19

By JOHN HOWELL When the Rhode Island Airport Corp. conducts back-to-back Warwick public workshops next week on a 20-year master plan for Green Airport, it will be looking for suggestions on how to improve the existing facility as well as how to be

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Input sought for airport master plan

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When the Rhode Island Airport Corp. conducts back-to-back Warwick public workshops next week on a 20-year master plan for Green Airport, it will be looking for suggestions on how to improve the existing facility as well as how to be prepared to take advantage of the demands of the future.

The hearings will be held Tuesday, June 25, from 4-8 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza and Wednesday, June 26, from 4-8 p.m. at the Wyndham Providence Hotel on Post Road.

As no expansion of Green beyond its current fence line – such as another runway or further extension of the major runway – is planned, the sessions are not expected to draw a significant turnout.

The workshops will consist of a welcoming station and five specific focus workstations, including Airside, Landside, Terminal Area and Cargo/General Aviation. The workstations will allow for small group conversation with RIAC personnel and the consulting team.

President and CEO Iftikhar Ahmad notes RIAC has been slow in updating its master plan, and if the airport is going to gain Federal Aviation Administration grant funding, it needs a timely master plan. For Ahmad, the issue is whether Green has the infrastructure for an increase in activity and, if not, if there is a plan to address it.

Ahmad outlines a theoretical situation.

Assume that in his efforts to bring new airlines and destinations to Green, Ahmad learns that an airline is looking to initiate two to three flights daily to London. Under the current setup, Green’s customs facilities couldn’t handle the increase in activity. It wouldn’t be an option for the airline.

However, if the master plan included a plan for the expansion of customs, then Ahmad could show how Green would accommodate such service and open the door to discussions.

Christine Vitt, RIAC’s senior vice president and chief infrastructure officer, urges “airport neighbors” – not just homeowners, but also businesspeople and city officials – to attend the meetings and bring their ideas. Through its advisory committee, Vitt said RIAC gets feedback from the business community and the hospitality and tourism sectors. She is hopeful they will be represented.

Vitt said improvements need to be made to the terminal, and the plan will also look at traffic circulation on the non-airfield side of the airport.

Asked why people should consider attending the workshops, Ahmad responded in an email Monday: “Our community should be part of the conversation on long-range planning of an asset that belongs to them. There is $2.6 billion economic impact and 22,4000 jobs associated with this asset of Rhode Island. Together we should decide how to protect and grow one of Rhode Island’s major asset in a responsible manner.”

Working with C&S Engineering, RIAC started updating the master plan in 2016, with work picking up last year. In February, the RIAC board approved $1.32 million to complete the plan.

According to a WSP USA analysis, Green will see 5.3 percent annual growth in passenger traffic and a 1.5-percent increase in operations between 2017 and 2022. In the longer term, WSP projects that over the 20 years from 2017 to 2037, passenger traffic will grow by 3.2 percent and operations by 1 percent a year.

“Forecasting growth is not just a local process. We must also take into account how the national aviation activity would grow in the coming years,” Richard McCurley, RIAC vice president, operations and maintenance, explained in an email Monday. “The FAA gives us specific guidance on growth at both levels. They have to approve any departure from the growth they project for us. Our workshops will be open for comments and responses from the public.”

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