BENTONVILLE -- A potential runway extension at the municipal airport has some residents concerned about the noise it would create around their homes.
About 30 people attended a drop-in meeting regarding the Bentonville Municipal Airport Master Plan update Monday evening. It was held in the airport terminal where presentation boards highlighted concepts for the airport's growth.
Meeting
Monday’s public meeting was the second officials held regarding the Bentonville Municipal Master Plan update. The first was held in February and drew many people who were associated with the airport.
Officials sent out 275 door hangers to promote Monday’s meeting and were pleased with the turnout of about 30, many who live by the airport.
Source: Staff report
Morrison Shipley and Kimley-Horn and Associates are developing the plan update.
Kevin Clarke, with Kimley-Horn, spent most of the time in front of boards that depicted the two options for a runway extension, one to the north and one to the south.
The runway is currently 4,426 feet. An extension of 589 feet would lengthen it to 5,015 feet, according to the diagrams.
Some planes cannot take off at load capacity now because of the runway's length, Clarke told a handful of people circled around him. The longer runway would also accommodate larger jets, he said.
The number of aircraft based at the airport and number of take-offs and landings are expected to double over the next 20 years, according to forecasts. Corporate aircraft using the airport are also expected to increase.
"It's pretty consistent with with national trends, a little bit more because there's so much happening here," Clarke said.
There are space issues extending the runway in either direction. An extension to the south would push the Runway Protection Zone past Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard. The zone is trapezoid shaped and increases the protection of people on the ground, Clarke said.
The commercial strip that includes the White Oaks fuel station to the south of the highway would have to be relocated and the road may also have to be rerouted to go around the Runway Protection Zone, Clarke said.
Southwest Airport Regional Boulevard is in the process of being widened to five lanes.
This option could cost anywhere between $18 to $35 million dollars.
An extension to the north would require the relocation or adjustment of Lake Bentonville, which horseshoes the runway's north end now. This option is estimated to cost $20 million.
Kim Jones was one of many who had questions about the possibility of the north extension.
She bought a house in a subdivision that is east of the airport's north end nine years ago and was told the airport wouldn't be expanded and the lake would be left alone, she said.
She said she can hear larger jets take off now and is concerned the noise will increase if the runway is extended north.
LaVone Hazelwood, property manager for Touchstone Village Apartments, and John Prater, who works maintenance at the apartment complex, came to see the plans for the runway extension.
The apartments are south of the subdivision.
"We had heard rumors, and we just wanted to find out firsthand how it would affect our business over there," Prater said.
Hazelwood said she wanted to question what kind of noise and exhaust impact it would have and found out the runway extension wouldn't happen for many years.
"There really aren't any major concerns that we have," she said, adding there may be a decade or more from now.
The need for the runway is 10 to 15 years out, Clarke said. More pressing priorities include a turf runway, taxiways and hanger development on the airport's west side. There was a board diagramming the concepts, but not much conversation took place around it.
The next step in the plan update is to identify the preferred option for the runway extension, Clarke said. Then a 10-year Capital Improvements Plan will be drafted to prioritize projects. The Airport Layout Drawing will be revised. The Federal Aviation Administration will approve the plan update, and it will also go before City Council.
The process should conclude in six to eight months, according to Clarke.
"Something like this puts a vision on paper and gives us a great road map for how we should proceed so we end up getting to our goal," said Ben Peters, city engineer who manages the airport.
The airport's master plan was last updated in 2003.
NW News on 08/04/2015