September 11, 2008
Parallel Runways
Our regional Hillsboro airportairport services a large number of corporate jets, business planes and a flight school. The Port of Portland held an “under the radar” community meeting tonight (9/11)! to introduce a proposal to the community to expand the airport. None of my neighbors, or the local business people that I had contact with knew about the proposal or the meeting.
The proposed expansion involves the construction of another runway — this one to be built parallel to one of the existing runways. The new runway will also impact (destroy) existing wetlands which provide habitat to wildlife. With this new runway, I am sure that the homeowners can expect an increase in air traffic over our little sleepy suburb. This increase in air traffic will increase our air pollution, and increase noise pollution, and decrease property values. Since part of the reason for the expansion is because of the increased traffic at the flight school, an increase in student pilot air traffic is not conducive to air safety.
The Hillsboro airport is closly surrounded by businesses and homes. It has a limited amount of land there which is the reason they have to make the new runway parallel to an existing one; still encroaching on the wildlife wetlands. My personal biggest objection is the fact that the proposed runway is parallel to an existing one. I feel that this is a disaster waiting to happen. Inexperience pilots crossing a busy runway used by corporate jets, confused while trying to get to their hangars, trying to find the right taxiway, the right runway, the right path to cross, etc. I had many years of flying into and out of the Lambert/St. Louis airport. It has parallel runways. There were many narrow misses, go-arounds and aborted take-offs because another plane had yet to taxi completely clear the runway or the taxiway. There were also fatal accidents. And these were with experienced pilots who had had many years in commercial aviation most after having been in the military and were very familiar with the runway situation at the St. Louis airport.
I just feel that our little bedroom community of Hillsboro does not need the increase in air traffic, the increase in noise pollution, the increase in air pollution, the increase in student pilots flying above our neighborhoods and schools and the multitude of resulting problems that this runway expansion would create for the homeowners of Hillsboro.
