County council addresses critics of airport plan
Allegheny County Council on Tuesday addressed a critic of the proposed $1.1 billion Pittsburgh International Airport modernization who was seeking more transparency on the project.
County Council has no jurisdiction over the airport: It’s in the hands of the Allegheny County Airport Authority. But critics of the project were hoping that county council would influence the airport authority to hold an open meeting to discuss the proposal.
“We really need some transparency on this issue,” David Allinder, a leading critic of the project, told council members. “Maybe think about discussions that you’ve had with people you know about how they feel about it. Is this an opportunity to make this better? Is this an opportunity to open it up?”
County Councilman Samuel DeMarco III said the airport authority has been transparent, and has held three public meetings about the project. He said no local tax dollars are being spent on the project, and it would be irresponsible to continue to investin the current structure.
As part of the proposed modernization, the landside building would be abandoned and slated for demolition or reuse.
In addition, the tram that carries people between that building and the X-shaped airside building where travelers get on and off planes would be shutdown. The number of airport gates would be reduced from75 to 51.
Under the plan, a new landside building housing ticketing, baggage and security facilities would be built between airside’s C and D concourses at the cost of $783.8 million. There also would be a new 4,500-space parking garage erected at a cost of $258.8 million.
“I can understand why some folks would question ‘well where is this savings going to come from?’” Mr. DeMarco said. “But a lot of it is going to be picked up from savings from operations and maintenance, not having to pay for the tram between the airside terminal to the landside terminal, not having to pay for the elevators, the escalators, the people movers and things like that.”
Mr. Allinder said he appreciated the answers provided by council, but he was still hoping that information could bemade clear to the public.
“I think that there’s been a lot more investigation and a lot more honest investigation than people understand,” Mr. Allinder said. “But we still have a gap of public understanding of the project.”