T.F. Green Airport Improvement Program - FEIS Chapters - PVD

T.F. Green Airport Improvement ProgramEnvironmental Impact Statement and Final Section 4(f) EvaluationApproximately 10 additional units would be exposed to significant noise levels by Alternative B4 compared toAlternative B3. An additional 12 homes (28 people) would be impacted by DNL 70 dB and above byAlternative B4 compared to Alternative B3. However, this does not take neighborhood rounding into account,and these homes could well be included in a land acquisition program for noise mitigation. An additional52 homes would be exposed to noise levels DNL 65 dB and above, by Alternative B4; however, many of thesecould have already received sound insulation mitigation.Both alternatives have identical wetland impacts, which would total 7.3 acres in one wetland system, with noimpacts to Buckeye Brook. Floodplain impacts for the two Alternatives are identical. The RPZ associated withAlternative B3 South and Alternative B4 would both impact Winslow Park, a Section 4(f) property, and bothwould require removal of four full-sized softball fields, clubhouse, two parking lots, soccer fields, and oneplayground. Both alternatives would have the same impact on historical resources and would requiredemolishing Hangar No. 1 and internal reconfiguration of Hangar No. 2. In addition, Alternative B3 South andAlternative B4 would both reduce views of the Rhode Island State Airport Terminal and would have the samedirect impacts to the Terminal’s landscaping.Comparison of Other East Coast Airports Offering Non-Stop West Coast ServiceA review of other East Coast airports’ primary runway lengths provides a general range of lengths required toreasonably accommodate non-stop service to West Coast markets. There are 14 East Coast airports that currentlyoffer regularly scheduled non-stop passenger service to West Coast markets (as of May, 2011). Raleigh-DurhamInternational and Bradley International Airports do not currently offer non-stop West Coast service, however theyare included in this comparison because they have offered seasonal non-stop service within the past year. The lengthof the primary runway at each of these airports is shown in Table 3-8. Aside from Ronald Reagan WashingtonNational Airport (DCA), 126 the shortest runway length at East Coast airports that offer non-stop service to West Coastmarkets is 9,000 feet, with the remainder at 9,500 feet or more. Although most of the airports also serveintercontinental destinations (e.g., Europe), which require relatively long runways, two of the airports (Ft. Lauderdaleand Bradley International Airports) do not offer regularly scheduled commercial passenger service to Europe andhave runway lengths of at least 9,000 feet. Although there are a variety of factors considered in determining adequaterunway length (e.g., airfield elevation, temperature), none of the shorter primary runway lengths shown in Table 3-8(with the exception of DCA due to its unique market and service restrictions) deviate substantially from theoperationally preferred runway length of 9,350 feet determined for T.F. Green Airport.126 While DCA currently provides non-stop service to Los Angeles and Seattle (served by Alaska Airlines with a B737-800 aircraft), its runway length of 6,869’ is very limiting.These non-stop routes are two of only 24 daily flights allowed outside of a 1,250 mile “perimeter” from DCA. Since 1969, the “perimeter rule” has been in place at DCA tocontrol noise and influence air traffic to fly to/from Washington Dulles International Airport (located over 20 miles further from the D.C. city-center than DCA). Due to uniqueconditions related to the high demand for non-stop flights from the airport facility closest to Washington DC and the limited supply of flights allowed to be provided by theperimeter rule, airlines can operate profitably even if passenger payload penalties are required due to DCA’s relatively short runway length.Chapter 3 – Alternatives Analysis 3-29 July 2011\\mawatr\ev\09228.00\reports\FEIS_Final_July_2011\PVD_CH03_Alternatives_JUL_2011.doc