Mr. Peterson is correct in his assertion that the new north/south runway (17/35) is intended to provide greater capacity at MSP, but unfortunately, there won't be any noise relief for the good citizens of south Minneapolis.
In fact, expect a sharp INCREASE in noise pollution over Minneapolis as the number of aircraft arriving from the northwest (over the city) increases. The concept behind the new runway is simple: it's been designed to handle southbound departures and northbound arrivals to allow more aircraft to use the north/south parallel runways (12/30). Because the flight path of the new runway crosses the flight paths of the parallel runways at the northern end, it can't safely be used for southbound arrivals or northbound departures (over Minneapolis) without first closing the parallel runways, which isn't about to happen. Therefore, the only folks directly affected by flights using the new north/south runway are residents of Eagan and neighboring communities to the south. And they're not very happy about it. A large portion of the capacity increase at MSP will be achieved through an increase in the frequency of aircraft arriving from the northwest (over Minneapolis) on the parallel runways. Basically, the slots on the parallel runways that can be vacated by shifting departing aircraft to the new north/south runway (when the wind allows) will be filled by aircraft arriving over Minneapolis. This means many more low flying jets over Lake Harriet, down Minnehaha Creek, across Diamond Lake and Lake Nokomis, and skimming the roofs of our friends in the Wenonah Neighborhood. This potential increase in capacity, however, can only be realized with changes in landing protocols. Once departing southbound aircraft are moved from the parallel runways, the frequency of arriving aircraft must be increased. This increase in arrival frequency will be partially achieved through the implementation of new air traffic control technologies that will allow aircraft to operate at a reduced separation. That is, they'll fly closer to one another on approach. The plan is to eventually permit one aircraft to land on each of the parallel runways with only one minute separation between aircraft using the same runway, or stated another way, one aircraft will land every 30 seconds on one of the parallel runways. This arrangement potentially doubles the current landing capacity during peak periods and at the same time, doubles the noise pollution from flights arriving over Minneapolis. Taking wind, weather, and air traffic into consideration, expect at least a 25% overall increase in operational capacity at MSP. Now, can someone explain why the MAC thinks fewer people deserve noise mitigation? Dennis Jon Fuller - Sixth Park District _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
