Are plans for a new Pierce County airport already dead? It’s starting to feel that way | Opinion

Humor me here for a moment: What if the idea of putting a massive new airport in rural Pierce County or Thurston County is already dead?

It’s sure starting to feel that way, isn’t it? Just think about what we’ve learned in recent weeks.

Last month, Warren Hendrickson, acting chair of the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission, revealed that all three of the proposed greenfield sites — two in Pierce County and one in Thurston — have “showstoppers” that could ultimately remove them from consideration.

Last week, we learned that Joint Base Lewis-McChord officials believe that the three sites are “incompatible” with essential base operations and mission-readiness requirements.

This week, Hendrickson was part of a “drop-in” session with the public designed to answer questions about the commission’s work, which is supposed to include delivering a final recommendation for the site of a new airport in the coming months. Hendrickson said that in his estimation as a non-voting member, there’s a “low probability” that any of the three greenfield sites will receive an endorsement from the group.

Did I mention the National Park Service has concerns? That local lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have come out in strong opposition? That anti-airport activists have rallied, including packed town halls and demonstrations at the state capital?

I can’t predict the future. But I just might be able to read the tea leaves.

At least for now, plans to lay down runways in this neck of the woods are starting to feel DOA.

So … what then?

No really. What then? Sure, if that’s the way things break we’ll all be granted a chance to rejoice, and rightly so. We can pop champagne or crack frosty Rainiers, but the celebration will be brief.

The truth is, none of the reasons people have been chewing their fingernails over the prospect of a new airport will disappear overnight. We might wiggle out of this jam, but there’s no guarantee we won’t be ensnared by the next.

The current growth projections won’t change. The strain on Seattle-Tacoma International Airport will only get more pronounced. The demands of a modern Puget Sound region that’s home to concentrated wealth and opulence won’t diminish — and rural Pierce and Thurston counties will still be here, targets in the making

In essence, we’ll be right back where we started: trying to solve a puzzle that’s been vexing local officials for decades.

You can be forgiven if the thought exhausts you. I feel the same way. As my colleague Shea Johnson told me on Friday, “It’s all up in the air” — at which I loudly groaned.

Perhaps the most likely option — hitting “reset” on the site consideration process and starting from square one — sounds particularly futile, even if it’s warranted.

It’s not like some new magical Puget Sound location that’s perfect, where everyone’s clamoring for a new airport, is going to materialize. Even if the search is expanded to include locations that were excluded this time around — like a site near Enumclaw that the state Department of Transportation has identified as perhaps the best possible fit for a new airport – none of it will be any easier.

You can hold all the town halls you want. Here’s what you’ll learn: No one wants an airport anywhere near them, for good reason.

Then there are the known alternatives, like further expanding passenger and cargo traffic at existing airports. But they already built a third runway at SeaTac, a facility that’s bursting at the seams with travelers, while Paine Field has hosted at least a limited number of commercial flights since 2019. There’s only so much juice to be squeezed, and only so much burden that’s fair to heap onto the cities and people already carrying the weight of the region’s air travel needs.

Beefing up rail travel options, particularly to regional destinations, and especially if it’s high-speed rail, remains an appealing option — even if it’s packed with unknowns. If only there was a local entity capable of building light rail quickly and efficiently, you know, to give people hope.

There’s always Yakima, I suppose, where city officials have expressed an interest in welcoming a new airport. As much as I’d like to reward the Palm Springs of Washington, it’s also three hours away.

Is doing nothing an option? Technically, yes, but realistically — probably not. In his comments this week, Hendrickson cited a projected loss of $31 billion in annual economic impact and 209,000 jobs under such an approach — which would likely be just the start of it.

So where do you build an airport when there’s no obvious place for one — and just about no one wants it in their backyard?

It’s starting to feel like a question we’ll be trying to answer for years to come.

Here’s one more prediction for you:

If Pierce and Thurston County are saved this time around, it’s probably only a matter of time before the Puget Sound region will be forced to have this debate all over again.

This story was originally published February 4, 2023 at 5:00 AM.

Matt Driscoll

Opinion Contributor,

The News Tribune

253-597-8657

Matt Driscoll is a columnist at The News Tribune and the paper’s Opinion editor. A McClatchy President’s Award winner, Driscoll is passionate about Tacoma and Pierce County. He strives to tell stories that might otherwise go untold.