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 …
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 …
Friday, November 16, 2012
New FAA plan running into local opposition.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- James Sanna
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Friday, November 16, 2012
A new set of navigational technologies proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration could dramatically increase the numbers of airplanes flying over certain houses in Southwest Minneapolis. The planned introduction of those technologies has run into opposition from area residents, members of the Minneapolis City Council, and members of Minnesota's delegation to the state legislature. Maps provided by the MSP airport Noise Oversight Committee, posted above, show the FAA predicts that traffic will dramatically increase over narrow swaths of Southwest Minneapolis. According to maps in a 2011 noise survey conducted by MAC, posted above, this traffic is currently distributed much more widely over Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs. …
City Council also opposed.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- James Sanna
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Friday, November 16, 2012
Update 12:17 p.m. 11/16/12: Much of the Southwest Minneapolis legislative delegation has signed on to Hornstein's letter opposing the RNAV technology changes. The letter is posted at right. "Before RNAV is pursued further, we need more information," the letter reads. "Our constituents deserve the opportunity to give input. The process that has been offered thus far has not been adequate for this significant change to airport operations." The legislators also called for studying the impact of RNAV as part of a larger study of the airport's future. State Sens. Scott Dibble (DFL-61), Patricia Torres-Rey (DFL-63) and Jeff Hayden (DFL-62), have affixed their names to the letter, along with state Reps. Frank Hornstein (DFL-61A), Susan Allen (…
Plan proposes more overflights for fewer people.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- James Sanna
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Friday, November 16, 2012
In a decision likely to upset some Southwest Minneapolis homeowners but please others, a committee that advises the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) on airplane noise voted to endorse an FAA plan to reroute flights over Southwest Minneapolis. The FAA hopes to use two new technologies, called RNAV and PBN, to shunt flights into narrow departure corridors. The technology will make air traffic control safer, the FAA says. See the numbers of planes brought in by the new navigational technologies, called RNAV and PBN. Southwest Minneapolis' legislators are attacking the proposals and calling for more time. "It's a quality of life issue," Fulton resident Sara Thompson told Patch. Thompson and her block are trying to organize their fellow …
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 …
James Sanna
2:30 pm on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
FWIW, while reporting on this topic, I sometimes heard Minneapolis folks say that they would rather have the flights be distributed over a large number of houses as they are now, rather than concentrated in a few narrow spots, making life extra-unpleasant for those few folks. more ›