PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles is waiting for results from the National Geodetic Survey that will determine if more trees need to be removed from Lincoln Park — and if so, which ones to make nearby William R. Fairchild International Airport safer.
The trees would be removed as a result of airport growth that might have happened in the past two years, said Jeff Robb, port airport and marinas director.
If any cutting is required — which is likely — the removal would be to maintain the current displaced runway, Robb said.
About 1,350 feet of the east end of Runway 26 cannot be used because of “obstructions” — trees in Lincoln Park — Federal Aviation Administration regulations say, Robb said.
Park clearcut?
Robb said he and the FAA are working with the city of Port Angeles to find a solution because many — if not all — of the trees in Lincoln Park could be required to be removed if the rest of the runway is reclaimed.
“The reality is that Lincoln Park will need to change,” Robb said.
“We need to transform it into a more user-friendly park, not only for the airport but for the park user.”
If the runway is reclaimed — which has been in port plans for several years but won’t be official until a master plan is finished later this year — the cutting wouldn’t happen right away, Robb said.
“This would probably be a two-phased thing, if not more,” he said.
“We would probably work on adjusting for the current runway, and then if we reclaimed, that would be a second phase.”
A total of 350 trees was logged in the 147-acre park in October 2007.
He said once the survey results and recommendations from the FAA become available, some design strategies for the park could be worked out.
Landscaping techniques and other ideas could be included.
He said that unless the Clallam County Fairgrounds is planning additional tall buildings, it would probably not be affected.
The airport is also being asked to go to a shallower slope approach to the runways, he said.
Pilots may already land from the east on Runway 26, but in poor weather conditions, they fly around and use Runway 8, Robb said.
GPS system
A new global positioning system in conjunction with a lateral positioning system is being installed and can help pilots land during bad weather, Robb said.
Going around to land from another direction can cost big bucks for pilots — not to mention an inconvenience, Robb said.
“That can add an additional 30 minutes to a flight,” Robb said.
“If you’re Kenmore Air and you’re talking about a 45-minute flight from Seattle, adding another 30 minutes is a big deal.”
Kenmore Air estimated that the alternate route costs the company about $170,000 per year, he said.
“And that isn’t even talking about customer inconvenience,” he said.
Kenmore Air report
Kenmore Air’s Craig O’Neill reported to the Port of Port Angeles commissioners on Monday on how 2009 is shaping up for the passenger air service, which links Seattle’s Boeing Field with Fairchild.
Kenmore received two grants of $10,000 each, one from the city of Port Angeles and one from Clallam County, O’Neill said.
The grants, fueled by lodging tax funds, will go to marketing efforts, he said.
Although passenger counts were down in the first quarter, the second quarter is looking better, he said.
First quarter numbers were down 22 percent from last year — from 4,930 in 2008 to 3,829 in 2009 — O’Neill said.
“But that is consistent with what we’re seeing in other markets,” he said.
“We believe it is a case of people holding onto their money instead of traveling.”
The Hood Canal Bridge is the major factor in improvement for the second quarter, he said.
The floating bridge between Jefferson and Kitsap counties will be closed to traffic for up to six weeks starting May 1 for replacement of the 48-year-old eastern half and the bridge’s notorious center “bulge.”
Advance bookings are already up by 17 percent this year, and advance bookings for flights during the bridge closure is 119 percent stronger than last year, he said.
Cost-cutting measures — such as allowing people to book their shuttle from Boeing Field, where Kenmore lands, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where many passengers catch connecting flights — have been productive.
“We are in a very good position at this point,” he said.
Another factor that should improve Kenmore’s picture is paired ticketing set up with Alaska Airlines.
“I had hoped that the technical work would have begun by now, but it looks like it will happen later this month,” he said.
The company expects to see online ticketing available through Alaska Airlines by May 1.
An interline ticket — meaning a ticket booked straight from an Alaska Airlines flight through to Port Angeles — is expected to be available by June 1, and the public should be able to view all those options online sometime during the summer, O’Neill said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
