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10/30/2019 08:00 AMOn Sept. 13, Tweed Airport announced that American Eagle would be upgrading the planes that service the airport. The release also mentioned the existing runway and pending legal issues.
We all know of Tweed’s plans to pave over the southern Runway Safety Area (RSA), making the take-off length 6,500 feet, landing at 5,600 feet. This is being held up due to court actions trying to repeal the limitations put on the length by state statute and that memorandum of agreement (MOA).
On Sept. 25, Tweed released its Master Plan Update and indicated Tweed was committed to being transparent and inclusive with its master plan. My question is: Why isn’t Tweed telling the truth about its master plan?
On March 18, 2002, the Office of Legislative Review (OLR) released a report written by principal research analyst James Fazzalaro. The report was dated Feb. 20, 2002, detailing the newly adopted development plan for Tweed. This report aired the future development to be done in four phases.
We all know phases One and Two, as detailed in the OLR report, have been completed. Phase Three calls for paving the southern RSA. Tweed knew all along it wanted to lengthen the main runway and that MOA and state statute addition was just a smoke screen. The homeowners south of the airport were sand-bagged.
Here is Phase Four, which is not being made public. Per the OLR, “Phase 4 calls for an actual runway extension of 600 feet to the south end of Runway 2-20, construction of a new 1,000-foot safety area for Runway 2 and some related changes. This will result in a 7,200-foot runway for takeoffs and a 6,200-foot runway for landings in both directions.”
This may not happen right away, but it’s Tweed’s ultimate goal.
Just remember the term “eminent domain.”
Richard Poulton
East Haven