HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOW 2021-02-08 Item 3 - Presentation - King County Airport Master Plan Update1
KCIA Master Plan Summary 2020
King County International Airport (KCIA)
Request for Feedback on Airport Master Plan
Date: 9/2/2020
Re: Request for Community Input to the KC Airport Master Plan by November 30, 2020
Dear Neighbors and Community Members,
We operate the King County International Airport as part of King County government. We are primarily
an airport for commercial, cargo and private aircraft. We are not a major passenger airport.
The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) requires us to update our Airport Master Plan (AMP) every 5-7
years. We are anticipating that flights will increase by 3.3% over 20 years from 2015 to 2035 or an
additional 15-16 flights a day. See detailed flight information on page 4.
The Airport Master Plan is a formal planning document based on financial forecasts, travel forecasts and
infrastructure needs that allows us to identify what we need to do in terms of construction projects and
other needed changes to meet future needs. We have been working on it the past five years and are close
to the final document. Now, we need your feedback. Please review the proposed construction projects
and proposed changes on:
Page 3 – List of construction projects and changes to the Airport with corresponding map
Page 2 – Map of KCIA Airport with location of proposed construction projects and changes.
We would appreciate your feedback on the Airport Master Plan by November 30, 2020. You can:
• Attend one of the three COVID safe online community meetings we have scheduled on
o Wednesday, October 28th
o 8am – 9:30am; 12pm – 1:30pm; or 6 – 7:30pm
o For the online meeting link please check our website, linked bellow, or you may email or
call at the email address and phone number also linked directly below
• Email your feedback to KCIACommunityOutreach@KingCounty.gov
• Call in your feedback at 206-296-7380, and/or
• Send a letter to us at King County Airport 7277 Perimeter Rd. S. Seattle, WA 98108-3844.
• For more information on the Master Plan see the KCIA Planning page on our website
kingcounty.gov/KCIAMasterPlan
After the Airport Master Plan is adopted, any construction project or change is required to go through
traditional project process, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and State
Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), before being constructed. That will be another opportunity to provide
feedback on that specific project.
I look forward to your feedback on the Airport Master Plan. Thank you very much in advance.
Sincerely,
John Parrott, Director
King County Airport
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KCIA Master Plan Summary 2020
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KCIA Master Plan Summary 2020
KCIA Master Plan Proposed Major Construction Projects and Land Purchases
See location of these projects on the Map on page 2.
Major Construction Projects
1. Runway End Relocated 300’ North.
a. As required by the FAA, the official end of the runway must move approximately 300 feet to
the north; this affects both aircraft flying into KCIA and SeaTac.
b. Aircraft landing at the airport will still fly in at the same height however aircraft departing
will depart 300 feet further to the north.
c. Current light lane will be relocated 300’ north; will remain on airport property
d. Estimated Construction Date 2027.
2. Redevelopment of the general aviation tiedown and hangar area in the southwest corner of the
airport next to the Museum of Flight for an air cargo ramp.
a. This will not expand the footprint of the airport.
b. Estimated Construction Date TBD.
3. Large Aircraft Parking Ramp near the terminal.
a. KCIA is currently short on aircraft parking spaces for larger aircraft that fly into the airport
occasionally, usually for sports teams. This ramp will be able to accommodate these aircraft.
b. This will not expand the footprint of the airport.
c. Estimated Construction Date 2021.
4. Repaving the smaller runway.
a. Estimated Construction Date 2024.
5. Repaving the large runway and installing runway centerline, touchdown and approach lighting
consistent with the new runway end location.
a. Will be tied in with the runway end project and is the largest project in the Master Plan.
b. Estimated Construction Date 2027.
6. Airfield Geometry changes and airfield lighting upgrades
a. Most of the other projects in the master plan are for FAA safety improvements.
b. These projects include changing the alignment of taxiways and adding additional in-
pavement lighting for safety.
7. Airport Fuel Farm – The airport needs a new airplane refueling storage area, commonly called a fuel
farm, due to the age of the current tanks.
a. The current proposal in the Master Plan is to put the new fuel farm on the current
Jorgensen Forge site, (the area on the west side of East Marginal Way near Boeing). This site
or alternatives will be looked at further.
Proposed Land Purchases
The Airport will be looking to purchase the following minimal amount of land around the airport. Most
of this land will be used to store FAA required equipment or be designated for required FAA runway
protection zones that the airport should have as open space for public safety.
A. 0.56 acres in the NE corner of the airport for the runway protection zone
B. 0.6 acres near the current Airport maintenance shop
C. 7.4 acres on the south end of the airport for the runway protection zone
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KCIA Master Plan Summary 2020
D. 21.6 acres on the west side of east marginal way for future development including a
possible location for a new Air Traffic Control Tower and Fuel Farm.
E. 3.6 acres near the current southwest general aviation hangars as one of the last parcels
with possible airfield access that the Airport does not currently own. This would be
used for future development
Economic Benefits to Local Communities
• The direct and indirect economic impact of our next six-year capital program on the local
economy is estimated to be $116 million in labor income and $310 million in business revenue.
• The direct and indirect economic impact from all activity at KCIA on the local economy is more
than $3 billion in business revenue in per year.
• More than 18,600 people are employed due to the activity at the airport, and $1.3 billion in
labor income is earned per year as a result of those jobs.
• Any physical expansion to the airport-owned property will be purchased as it comes available.
Airport Operations Forecast (Operations are defined as aircraft take-off and landing.)
Airport Activity Definition 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035
Commercial Service Regularly scheduled flights of less than 30 passengers 7,844 9,174 10,638 11,293 11,297
Cargo Packages and other goods 12,336 12,965 13,627 14,322 15,052
Charter Flights Flights on private aircrafts that are not regularly scheduled 20,503 21,937 23,470 25,110 26,866
Corporate Small jet travel by company executives in their own planes 26,404 30,403 35,099 40,312 46,418
Recreational/Training Dual or four seat aircraft, privately owned (general aviation) 96,876 83,090 68,672 68,672 68,755
Military Military aircraft 1,608 1,669 1,733 1,799 1,867
Total Forecasted
Operations
165,571 159,239 153,148 161,807 170,956
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
2015 2020 2025 2030 2035
Fl
i
g
h
t
s
Airport Activity By Type
Commercial Service Cargo Charter Flights
Corporate Recreational/Training Military
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
200,000
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Fl
i
g
h
t
s
Total Airport Operations Actual
vs. Forecast 2015-2020
Total Forecasted Opperations
Total Actual Operations
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Frequently Asked Questions about the Master Plan Update
Below we have provided answers to the most frequently asked during our Master Plan Update outreach.
For a complete list of questions, comments and feedback during the community engagement process
please see the Master Plan Update section of our website.
Question: How is the Airport Master Plan aligning with the King County Strategic Climate Plan?
o KCIA is one of the few airport’s in the country that has prepared a comprehensive
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory.
o KCIA supports the King County Strategic Climate Action Plan (KCSCAP) by managing
GHG emissions that it can control, conducting climate preparedness, and promoting
climate and community resiliency.
Question: How will projects identified in the Master Plan affect General Aviation (GA) parking at the
airport?
o The airport is extremely land constrained and some of these projects will impact the
GA community. The airport currently has identified lot 13 as a possible area to
relocate some tenants.
o If adjacent property comes available for purchase and the airport chooses to
purchase the property, the airport will have to decide at that time how to best utilize
the combined property.
o Currently the airport has a waiting list in all segments of aviation.
Question: Why is the airport relocating the runway threshold 300 feet to the north?
o The FAA will no longer support an existing Threshold Crossing Height (TCH) waiver of
Runway 14R for landings of large aircraft. The proposed 300-foot relocation of the
end of the runway to the north is the only viable option.
o As a part of this project, the airport will be removing 500 feet of special use pavement
which will decrease the total runway length by 580 feet.
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Question: Why is the airport forecasting an increase in flights and how will that affect noise in the
surrounding area?
o The airport operations forecast in the Master Plan Update is the formal prediction
from the FAA to help determine the forecasted demand for the airport to ensure the
infrastructure at the airport can meet that demand.
o KCIA does not have the authority to affect the number or types of aircraft operations
at the airport or authority of the airspace around the airport; that is controlled by the
FAA through the Aircraft Control Tower.
o The airport provided a voluntary multi-year sound insulation program for single-
family homes located in parts of the Georgetown, Beacon Hill and Tukwila/Allentown
neighborhoods.
This FAA-funded project provided $40 million for the sound insulation of just
under 600 homes in these neighborhoods.
o The updated existing and future noise contours generated for this Master Plan
Update are significantly smaller than the previous contours and would likely result in
a much smaller Noise Mitigation Boundary if the study were updated today.
o This current reduction in the KCIA-related noise footprint is the result of both fewer
aircraft operations being conducted at the airport and changes in the fleet mix of
those operations due to the retirement of many older/noisier aircraft, along with the
continued advancement of quieter engine technology.
Question: Will projects identified in the master plan bring more jobs to the local community,
specifically low-income and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) community
members?
o Yes, from our latest Economic Impact Assessment it is anticipated that the direct,
indirect and induced economic impact of the airport’s next six-year Capital
Improvement Program will be an estimated $718 billion for the local economy and
more than 2,000 jobs. Many of these are careers with our tenants, construction jobs
and service industry jobs in the local community.
o While KCIA cannot require applicants to county jobs be from certain demographic or
geographic groups, we do plan on promoting potential jobs and contracts at the
airport.
o KCIA also hires interns at all levels from high school, community college,
undergraduate and graduate school and makes a special effort to publicize these
opportunities within the local community. Our goal is to encourage young people to
consider aviation careers.
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o KCIA also partners with the Museum of Flight and their youth programing such as
Women Fly, Michael P. Anderson Program and Career Days to support and encourage
underrepresented students towards careers in aviation.
Question: What is the plan for increasing the landscape buffer between the airport property and the
surrounding communities?
o King County is currently coordinating with the City of Seattle about moving a segment
of airport fencing to improve the existing pedestrian connection between
Georgetown and South Park neighborhoods of Seattle. This project could also include
a combination of artwork and a landscape buffer along a segment of the airport’s
perimeter fencing.
o KCIA is researching the best type of foliage to increase the greenery around the
airport that does not attract wildlife or grow too tall and absorbs the most carbon.
Question: How will King County fund projects that have been proposed in the Master Plan? Will local
tax dollars be used?
o No local tax dollars are used to operate or enhance the airport.
o KCIA will fund projects proposed in the Master Plan through multiple sources
including airport revenues, grants and the issuance of bonds. However, many of the
projects are dependent on getting federal grant funding and may not move forward if
no grant funds are available.
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