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

T.F. Green Airport Improvement ProgramEnvironmental Impact Statement and Final Section 4(f) Evaluationrequirements for specific market demands. Any new airport must serve as a complete replacement forT.F. Green Airport and its service area.The total area that would be adequate for a replacement airport is approximately 6,000 acres (9.45 square miles),based on current FAA airport design standards 96 to replace existing facilities now serving T.F. Green Airportand facilities to accommodate anticipated growth potential. The identification of potential areas within thesearch area focused within a one-hour drive from the Providence metropolitan area population center located inproximity to major highway access corridors. The following site constraints were used as geographic informationsystem (GIS) mapping layers to identify incompatible areas for airport development:• High population density (more than 800 people per square mile)• Rivers, streams, and water bodies• Topography (greater than five percent slope)• Protected Open Space (Designated Parks and Wildlife Refuges)• Roadways and Railroads• WetlandsAs shown in Figure 3-3, two potential areas for a new airport were identified: one of these sites was located inMassachusetts; and one site was located in Rhode Island. The Massachusetts site was eliminated from furtherconsideration based on the findings of the 1990 Second Major Airport Study 97 that concluded there were nosuitable sites for a major new airport in Massachusetts. The Rhode Island site would have extensive wetlandsimpacts (filling) that would result from constructing a new airport. This analysis demonstrated that there are nosuitable sites within the study area that could be constructed without environmental impacts substantially inexcess of the environmental impacts likely to result from any of the on-Airport alternatives. Therefore, thedevelopment of a new airport alternative was eliminated from further evaluation.3.3.3 Candidate Alternative: Other Modes of TransportationThis alternative examined the use of other (non-aviation) modes of transportation to reasonably and feasiblymeet the Purpose and Need by providing an alternative form of transportation to air passengers who otherwisewould use the Airport to fulfill their non-stop West Coast travel needs from the Providence metropolitan area.The efficiency purpose of the T.F. Green Airport Improvement Program, relative to the need for longer primaryrunway length, is to meet the need for non-stop West Coast service to accommodate the T.F. Green Airportcatchment area 98 and, thereby, enhance the efficiency of the New England Regional Airport System. Railalternatives do not enhance aviation system efficiency in the medium and long-haul markets. Travel times andfrequencies for medium and long-haul markets are considered to be too long and too few to be reasonable andfeasible alternative to commercial air service. The overall cost of rail travel is not competitive with air travel.Passenger rail service has been eliminated from further review since it would not meet the service demands ofT.F. Green Airport or otherwise achieve the Purpose and Need. Highway transportation does not enhance96 FAA Advisory Circular 150/5300-13, Airport Design, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, September 29, 2006. Change 10.97 Second Major Airport Study, Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission, 1990. (A separate siting study was conducted in 1990 by the MassachusettsAeronautics Commission to determine whether a potential site for a second major airport existed in eastern Massachusetts as a replacement for Logan.)98 A catchment area extends from an airport to the point where travel times to an adjacent airport are equal.Chapter 3 – Alternatives Analysis 3-7 July 2011\\mawatr\ev\09228.00\reports\FEIS_Final_July_2011\PVD_CH03_Alternatives_JUL_2011.doc