City to study 2nd airport, sixth runway (Atlanta, Columbus: rental car, costs)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Chicago has Ohare and Midway, New York has LaGuardia and JFK... while I think ATL is well designed, I think anything that's going to help bring Atlanta into more of a world city status would be fantastic- a smaller airport on the Northside would definitely help. Plus, more job opportunities for us airline folks.
Hartsfield is a great airport...as inventive as Orlando International . First time I stepped on either one, I was amazed by the trains that connected the terminals!
You wana talk about crappy airports? Let's talk about Memphis International. Stinky, outdated and just plain ugly...
Even though it would never happen PDK would be a perfect 2nd airport since its not far from Hartsfield and right by Chamblee station. 2nd airports shouldnt be too far from the 1rst, just like Dallas, DC, Chicago, and New York. But NIMBY's rule, so pretty much any idea will get turned down.
Oh yeah! PDK Watch (a self-proclaimed watchdog group) is adamant about PDK not turning in to a commercial airport. They even object to runway improvements because they think that means bigger jets. They're at every PDK airport advisory board meeting, frothing at the mouth about something. They're the reason the airport has a "voluntary curfew". They will not sit quietly and let the airport get turned in to a commercial hub.
Besides, although it has good MARTA access it isn't very close to 85 or 285. Traffic between the airport and a freeway would be horrendous.
Oh yeah! PDK Watch (a self-proclaimed watchdog group) is adamant about PDK not turning in to a commercial airport. They even object to runway improvements because they think that means bigger jets. They're at every PDK airport advisory board meeting, frothing at the mouth about something. They're the reason the airport has a "voluntary curfew". They will not sit quietly and let the airport get turned in to a commercial hub.
Besides, although it has good MARTA access it isn't very close to 85 or 285. Traffic between the airport and a freeway would be horrendous.
I'm not a Dekalb Nimby by any means...
if anything quite the opposite. The way most of Dekalb Co (non-Atlanta & Decatur Cities) grew early on was a mess in terms of planning. There is not anywhere in metro Atlanta that is more overreliant to depend on state and federal highways as their local arterial roads. There were poor zoning choices.... or complete lack of thought... let any developer do as he pleases.
Many of the original residents really did believe they could build low-density neighborhoods off of mostly the state and federal roads (which are important, because they are usually the only roads that cross county lines in a meaningful way for thru-traffic) and the growth would not continue to go outward. The way they complain about through traffic to Gwinnett Count is equally baffling. They cut-off prevent local road connections, except preexisting rural roads and state and federal highways. Of course the major routes that everyone had to use get congested.
anyways... that aside... one of the huge problems they had was PDK is directly 3/4 bordered by single family home neighborhoods. It couldn't have been any worse if early planners got together and actually said... what is the best way for us to make future NIMBYs.
So, I guess for odd reasons... I sort of feel for those people. It was a planning mistake from day one. Many of the newer airports in the area have a zoning buffer of a commercial or industrial district, like Brisco and McCollum.
I've heard people say Chattanooga should be given a look and it's located in another state.. Metro Augusta(540k in 2009) is bigger than metro Chattanooga, and the CSRA is much bigger than Chattanooga's CSA...
I think Augusta should be given some consideration, there's already a shuttle between Hartsfield and AUG Regional... The airport in Augusta is probably growing faster than 95% of the airports in america.. The airport set a passenger record in 2010, were gaining 100k new passengers a year, 600 parking spaces are under construction, the airport is building new restaurants/bars and a business lounge, a larger Delta jet starts flying daily to Atlanta on May 1st, and nonstop flights to both New York and DC are underway... The airport traffic is up almost 30% in 2011 and 1000 new parking spaces are coming in the future..
I think the argument for Chattanooga is that its closer to the northern Atlanta population, its terribly underutilized (my parents live there and almost 50/50 chance they drive to Atlanta), and its runway was recently lengthened to 7400 ft. Chattanooga also is the first choice for diversions from Atlanta because of added runway length.
Location: Augusta, GA ''The fastest rising city in the southeast''
5,287 posts, read 4,836,401 times
Reputation: 467
Quote:
Originally Posted by scpatl4now
I think the argument for Chattanooga is that its closer to the northern Atlanta population, its terribly underutilized (my parents live there and almost 50/50 chance they drive to Atlanta), and its runway was recently lengthened to 7400 ft. Chattanooga also is the first choice for diversions from Atlanta because of added runway length.
I'll agree Chattanooga is closer to the northern Atlanta suburbs, but Augusta's airport is terribly underutilized too. People living in Augusta used to fly out of Atlanta and Columbia.. Luckily I-520 was completed in 2009 to help bring more people from the SC portion of the metro to the airport.. Also, the airport in Augusta is growing much faster and has a 8,000 ft. runway...
The most important part is the tax revenue created would actually stay in GA...
The most important part is the tax revenue created would actually stay in GA...
That small amount of tax revenue is a moot point to us compared to the jobs and service we can attract here by having a well located and functioning second airport that would serve North Atlanta well and adequately relieve Hartsfield.
Well thought out arguments however you miss the point in the converstaion. The city looked at lots of airports, excluding augusta even chattanooga, basically taking business out of the state, in the hub i didnt mean on atl level, augusta could bring in passengers from other cities as a connector for atlanta, take a look at richmond virginia and washington dulles. We have to face the facts, atl is only going to grow so big, and there is a need to expand, we have the worlds largest signal base here, a first class medical community and augusta is in the middle of a largest cluster of metropolitians.
Well thought out arguments however you miss the point in the converstaion. The city looked at lots of airports, excluding augusta even chattanooga, basically taking business out of the state, in the hub i didnt mean on atl level, augusta could bring in passengers from other cities as a connector for atlanta, take a look at richmond virginia and washington dulles. We have to face the facts, atl is only going to grow so big, and there is a need to expand, we have the worlds largest signal base here, a first class medical community and augusta is in the middle of a largest cluster of metropolitians.
Here is the thing....
I get it ... you guys want what is best for your city, but at the end of the day this thread is about Atlanta looking at a second airport or a possible 6th runway.
The arguments many of us are giving is it is simply not very feasible for us, Atlantans....particularly North Atlantans to use Augusta as our second airport.
Truth be told...Chattanooga is still too far away for us, but there was a rare opportunity to compete for a high speed, experimental grant for trying out Maglev technology that would allow for an extremely fast connection to Atlanta and Atlanta's northside that started making the craziness seem feasible. We really need an airport Atlanta's northside business commuter fliers can get to within an hour's drive at the beginning of the day.
Augusta doesn't really have that opportunity and it really wouldn't work well for us. Don't get me wrong I don't want to hold Augusta back (and we aren't), but I don't think ya'll can look to us to help foster demand at your airport to get more attention from airline traffic. Ultimately that is what we are talking about.... a second airport for Atlanta... where our population can actually go when we outgrow Hartsfield, which we about have if we don't continue to expand it.
Statewide... we have several airports, including Augusta's, that offer connecting service to regional hub airports. The busiest would be Savannah. There is nothing we can do to make these airports function better. Ultimately they just need more demand to support more flights from the airlines. The airlines can quickly and easily send more planes as demand grows, but they need that travel demand.
As far as Delta's hub operations go... as they reach the upper ends of their capacity in Hartsfield, they will expand other regional hubs to compensate, like Detroit, Memphis, or Minneapolis. They will pick cities that are centrally located to some of their national customer base and has a high travel demand already. I'd also need to point out... that is the airlines choice... not the state's and to some extent the city's. The cities that can attract it work with airlines to make it happen, because of the business investment it brings in.
As for Augusta... moving into the future. I would look to Savannah as a model of a successful smaller city with a decent commercial service airport. Of course, they have a few advantages, like Hilton Head being nearby and being so far away from ATL, that it isn't always feasible to drive that far to fly. Whereas you guys actually miss out on some regional traffic, because of better flight availability in Savannah, Columbia, and Charleston, which are all competing for that small bit of traffic in western Sourth Carolina. You also have to compete with Savannah and Atlanta for potential traffic from the central part of the state. From a statewide planning perspective ... there isn't much we can do to change that other than make sure your existing airport meets current demand.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
