Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Local essayist muses on fraught subject.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- James Sanna
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Last month's fight over airport noise and new flight paths may have been full of pain and vitriol, but one Minneapolitan is trying to find beauty in the airplanes that fly over Southwest Minneapolis every day. For the most recent entry in his MinnPost column about places around the Twin Cities, called "The Stroll," Sturdevant traveled to Minneapolis' so-called "Deep South" neighborhoods and turned his gaze skyward: As irritating as this residential airport racket can be – and I live in Powderhorn, which gets its own share of overhead air traffic – there is something vaguely romantic about the ubiquity of these jetliners, bringing in thousands of visitors to the cities every minute of the day. Inspired by the planes' colorful livery to the …
Monday, November 19, 2012
Southwest Minneapolis, Richfield, Edina get reprieve from new routes.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- James Sanna
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Monday, November 19, 2012
Area residents’ ears are safe—for now. According to Fox 9, the commission governing the Twin Cities airports will let the FAA implement a new set of flight paths over Mendota Heighs, Eagan, and the Minnesota Valley, but will leave the current system in place in Minneapolis, Richfield, and Edina. FAA officials told the Metropolitan Airports Commission that the split implementation will delay any implementation on either side of the Minnesota River until 2014. "Organizing works," tweeted Southwest Minneapolis' City Councilmember Betsy Hodges (Ward 13), shortly after MAC took their vote. FAA officials had asked the Metropolitan Airports Commission to endorse a set of technologies called RNAV and PBN, the technologies would allow air traffic …
MAC asked to aprove a plan increasing overflights over some neighborhoods.
Monday at 1 p.m., the Metropolitan Airports Commission is scheduled to meet to consider endorsing a new suite of technologies, championed by the FAA, that could send hundreds of airplanes flying over a narrow swath of Southwest Minneapolis. Called RNAV and PBN, the technologies would allow air traffic controllers to concentrate flight paths—currently scattered across much of Southwest Minneapolis—into a select few "highways in the sky." This would result in a small section of blocks seeing a dramatic increase in overflights. Local residents and elected officials have been lobbying MAC not to endorse the new technologies yet, effectively postponing their implementation in Minneapolis for a year. Over the weekend, news emerged that MAC …
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Minneapolis state senator claims MAC chairman has assembled enough votes.
According to TheUptake's Mike McIntee, Southwest Minneapolis residents dreading the arrival of hundreds of planes overhead may get a reprieve on Monday. In an interview on McIntee's Friday radio show on AM 950, Southwest Minneapolis' state Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-61) said Metropolitan Airports Commission Chairman Dan Boivin has assembled enough votes on the 14-member board that governs MAC to delay implementation of a controversial new technology called RNAV. The MAC commissioners are scheduled to meet Monday to vote on whether to endorse the change, which was requested by the FAA. If MAC does not endorse the change by the end of November, the FAA must delay implementation for approximately year. Boivin did not immediately return Patch's …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Plan would set up flight "lanes," some of which run over Southwest Minneapolis.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- James Sanna
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Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Have an opinion about the Metropolitan Airports Commission's new plan to redirect air traffic over Southwest Minneapolis? Then mark out either Thursday or Tuesday evening in your calendars—the MAC is holding two public meetings on its new plan, which could see more planes directed over a smaller slice of the city. The Nov. 8 meeting will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Crosstown Covenant Church at 5540 30th Avenue South in Minneapolis. The Nov. 13 meeting takes place at the Eagan Community Center at 1501 Central Parkway, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. According to the Star-Tribune, the FAA wants to fully implement a new set of navigation technologies at the Minneapolis-St. Paul international airport. The plan pushes airplanes into…
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Community forum reviewed plans Tues. night.
- LOCAL CONNECTIONS
- James Sanna
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A $1.5 billion airport expansion got mixed reviews from Minneapolis residents at an open house Tuesday night. "Airport noise is a huge issue for us ... a real problem," a Linden Hills resident told a Star-Tribune reporter. "On the other hand, I took my wife to the airport this morning. It's convenient." City Councilmember John Quincy (Ward 11) has come out against the plan, but airport officials say the construction of a new international terminal is necessary. The Star-Tribune reports arrivals and departures are expected to rise from 437,075 in 2010 to 484,879 in 2020 and 526,040 by 2025. Only about 1,100 are projected to get noise abatement subsidies from the airport.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Airport advocates say the facility needs to prepare for future growth. Others aren't so sure.
Many Minneapolis-area residents probably got an unpleasant shock when they opened their newspapers on Sunday. According to a story in the Star-Tribune, the Metropolitan Airports Commission is looking to add $1.5 billon worth of new airport facilities in the comming years, to handle what they see as a big boost in passenger traffic. "Unless the economy totally collapses, there is going to be growth in the market here," said Dennis Probst, executive vice president of the airports commission. Citing the presence of numerous Fortune 500 firms in the region, he said, "The business community is going to continue to travel unless folks start pulling out of here." Some of Southwest Minneapolis' elected representatives aren't too keen on the plan. …
Monday, September 19, 2011
New air traffic management, airplane technologies behind changes.
It's a sound as ubiquitous in areas near the airport as snow drifts are in January—the rattle of dishes in the cupboard as a roaring, whining passenger jet takes off or comes into land at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. However, relief could be in store for residents underneath the airport's flight paths, as the FAA rolls out a new air traffic management system called NextGen between now and 2025. Budget pain kept loud planes in place “For 40 years there’s been an organization rallying MSP concerned about noise in the neighborhood. The way the airport is used impacts noise exposure,” said Jim Spensley, President of the South Metro Airport Action Council. “The busier the airport is—flights per hour or minutes between …
SMAAC [-- Jim Spensley]
9:00 pm on Thursday, December 6, 2012
Ugh. Overflight noise increases health risks. During peak hours MSP operates at minimum separations, aborted approaches are common. For every "thousands of passengers" visiting the Twin Cities or return home, there are 1,100 just passing through: so twice as many pretty planes are passing over head. more ›