cjenrick

Believe it or not, they are talking about a mega airport right smack dab in the middle of one of the best bike path's in the nation.
This is in Thurston County Washington State..

Words can not describe the horror and anger I felt today as I read about this nightmarish proposal . This is a beautiful area out in the country and I do not know how anybody except the deranged and greedy people of the earth could come up with such a thing as this.

If you want to help, go to the link and send an email.

Thanks!

https://www.stoptheairport.com/

dedhed

FWIW 2 runways is not a "mega airport"

nomadmax 

Your best bet is to do some research on the proposed site and see if there are some endangered animals or is an ancient burial ground. Barring that, be prepared to go around it on your bicycle.

RB1-luvr

for the OP's sake, and the locals that will be impacted, I hope it is stopped and located somewhere else.

Reflector Guy

Build it in someone else's back yard!

mstateglfr 

Its an airport- I dont think anybody or anything else on earth, besides people, could come up with such a thing. Last I saw, the Prairie Dogs were getting close to completing their test plane, but that thing is trash and looks like a Wright Bros reject so they are decades away still.

mstateglfr 

Wherever it is placed, it will impact someone negatively. Why would you hope to negatively impact others?

^ this is rhetorical. just consider it.

RB1-luvr

I'm not hoping for that, but maybe it won't also impact the bike path. Ideally it won't be built at all.

indyfabz

Help us out here: Which patch would that be?

tomato coupe

Flying squirrels? Sugar gliders?

Koyote

Honest question, and I'm not looking for an argument: do either of you ever travel by air?

Iride01 

Instead of fighting to have the proposed airport put in some others back yard, why not see about getting them to include in the project improvement of the cycling infrastructure that remains and replace/relocate nearby, the cycling infrastructure that is destroyed.

stevel610 

Yes, contact your representative and make sure re-routing of the bike path is included in the proposal. Cost is a drop in the bucket for an airport sized project.

Juan Foote

Watch Yellowstone and take notes.

base2 

Ok. Imma talk out my A here for a second, so please excuse.

There isn't enough population density or tax base in the area between Vancouver & Olympia to be financially viable with out handouts from King, Snohomish, or Pierce counties feeding the State coffers. The peoples of rural Washington living their way of life on somebody else's money need to be self sufficient & pay for the services they use.

An airport bringing in outside revenue so that the counties can operate with out taxing their local citizens the actual cost of providing services or being a drain on Olympia seems like a great idea.

If moving a bike path is the cost, so be it.





Oh, and for what it's worth: This thread, by definition, should be in P&R

livedarklions

Compared to what? LaGuardia has two runways.

BTW, I think the solution here is obvious, just put a bike lane on each of the runways.

70sSanO

I don’t have an exact roadmap, but there was a successful defense of stopping the EL Toro MCAS from turning into a 24 hr international airport.

In a nutshell it was really a county issue. Beyond the environmental impacts, including infrastructure, you need a champion(s) in county government to fight for you. If all of your local representatives are pro-airport, you have a tough battle.

The battle included putting the measure on the ballot multiple times until it was defeated. It was really north county vs. south county. The sidebar to this was a massive influx of new residents into south county that eventually presented an insurmountable force.

Ironically everyone liked having the Marine base close by. It was some reassurance, real or imagined, by having ready air support in the neighborhood.

John

phughes

A bike route goes through the Pittsburgh airport. No real issue there. Get involved with the planning. Make suggestions. Make your thoughts on the matter known. I seriously doubt complaining about it on BF will help.

zandoval 

Sounds like the times. Will ya be able to stop it? NO. Airport planing and building is most likely lined up and committed long before anyone in the general public gets any word. I think your best bet is to see that they provide a suitable Bike Path around it. Just getting that will be a challenge but it's plausible...

skidder

Yeah, I remember when that happened here in Souther California/Orange County Funny thing is that area was open ranch land when the El Toro MCAS was built back in the 'Cold War' era, the land around it got developed into residential suburbs with upper-middle-class. upper class neighborhoods populated by 'business-friendly' conservatives. Then when the Marines left in the mid-1990s as part of the nationwide military re-alignment for the post-cold war era. Once word got out that it would be repurposed as a major 24hr international airport to bolster the economy (and relieve some of the pressure on LAX )the neighbors started screaming. Money and political influence changed its course and its development as open space - parkland/housing was left to the City of Irvine to manage, and its been a cluster-f ever since with lots of political shenanigans going on. . Its slowly developing, but as more of a residential area than a 'Great Park' since the City of Irvine usually give concessions on housing if they'll contribute to the 'Great Park' part of it. So far most of the park has been developed into dedicated 'one-trick-pony' sports field (soccer, baseball/softball, etc) and not much open space. I'm glad I don't live near that area anymore.

FWIW: I worked down there in the 1990s when the El Toro MCAS base was active, and there was an incredible amount of jet fighter traffic going in and out of the base on a daily basis (lot of landing and take-off practice, including carrier deck practice before actually doing carrier operations). I'm surprised there were not more complaints from the surrounding communities at that time.

skidder

Since you didn't put any info on where Thurston County is, and your link doesn't work for me, and why a new airport is being proposed, I had to look up a few things (your link doesn't work). Its the county where Olympia (the state capital) is located, and there's already a small airport at the south end of the city. Is the proposal to expand that airport or build a new one outside the city limits and some distance from Olympia? Use bigger planes at this airport? And including a 'petition to stop the airport is probably better put in the most-appropriate regional forum near the top of the BF opening page.

Bald Paul

I bet some new PRs could be set on that if they become a Strava segment!

rydabent

That would be the smartest thing to do.

Steve B.

I always get annoyed when a NIMBY group like this just simply mis-states the facts. "Thousands of families displaced". Hardly. There are not thousands in the area who could possibly be mis-placed. This kind of mis-information always hurts your cause.

I get that nobody local wants an expanded airport. Problem is you move to an area where an airport exists, well you are going to hear noise and it's not going to get better unless some government official decides the airport isn't needed or useful and decided to close it. Don't see that happening here.

Curious as to why they need to expand ?, are they hoping some major airline (Southwest, Alaska) is going to add the place to a flight schedule ?. More commercial ?, maybe ANG ?.

jadmt