Proposed Airport Projects

Proposed Project Background

In November 2005, Congress mandated that all airports with scheduled airline service be brought into conformance with FAA standards for Runway Safety Areas (RSA) by 2015. An RSA is a defined surface surrounding a runway that enhances the safety of and reduces the risk of damage to airplanes in the event of an undershoot (aircraft landing short of the runway), an overshoot (aircraft landing on the runway but not able to stop on the runway), or an excursion from the runway (aircraft moving off the runway to the right or left). RSAs also provide accessibility for firefighting and rescue equipment responding to such incidents.

The Airport has two runways in a “V” configuration.  The approach ends of Runways 14 and 19 are co-located and are not in compliance with current FAA design standards regarding runway ends. The FAA’s Runway Safety Action Team (RSAT), which is a multi-disciplinary group that is charged with identifying means of improving safety at airports, prepared a Runway Safety Action Plan that indicates that the co-located approach ends of Runways 14 and 19 could lead to pilot confusion involving departures on the wrong runway.  This issue remains an ongoing, identified Airport risk. The RSAT recommends that the Airport eliminate the existing condition of the co-located approach ends of Runway 14 and Runway 19 by de-coupling the two runways.

To address the runway safety issues and the project objectives listed here, Sonoma County has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) to evaluate the environmental effects associated with implementing the improvements of the project.

Proposed Project Summary

The proposed project is the implementation of the 2030 Airport Master Plan. This includes a variety of project elements that would be implemented at the Airport over the course of the next twenty years. The individual project elements included in the Airport Master Plan are organized by those that would occur within the first five years (short-term project elements), and those that are planned to occur after the first five years but within a twenty-year timeframe (long-term project elements).

Short-Term Project Elements Overview (within 5 years)

•    Extend the main runway (Runway 14/32) from 5,115 to 6,000 feet (885 feet total)
•    Airfield improvements to support the runway extension:

o    Extend the crosswind runway (Runway 1/19) 200 feet to the north
o    Construct connecting taxiways
o    Place about 650 feet of Airport Creek into a culvert and implement related drainage improvements

Long-Term Project Elements Overview (within 20 years)

•    Construct a replacement airline passenger terminal
•    Relocate the aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) building
•    Relocate the air traffic control tower to the west side of the Airport
•    Ongoing activities over the 20-year planning period include:

o    Pavement maintenance
o    Construction of new or replacement aircraft storage hangars
o    Acquisition of property to protect the approaches to the runways

For a comprehensive list of proposed improvements, please review the Draft Environmental Impact Report, Chapter 1, pages 1-4 – 1-6.

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