The $631 million
dollar question
Now that the Federal Aviation
Administration has forced the Friedman Airport Authority to put the airport in
limbo by recommending relocation outside Hailey, the FAA and the authority have
a lot of questions to answer.
How to build the airport and how much it
will cost are the least of these.
The big questions involve the economic and
social impacts of a relocated airport, and what will happen in the dozen years
it may take before the airport is completed.
With $631 million in total sales in 2002,
Blaine County ranked 10th of Idaho’s 44 counties, according to state records.
So, the $631 million dollar question is
how far away can the airport be built before the distance from Sun Valley has a
decidedly negative effect on air travel and the local economy?
If 75 miles, the distance to the existing
Twin Falls airport, is too far, what’s the ideal number? 25 miles? 35 miles?
Someone needs to figure that out by questioning travelers or other means—before
site selection even begins.
One of the more interesting questions is
whether or not Friedman Airport will remain open.
Should moving the airport have a negative
economic effect, it may be tempting to try to split the difference and keep
Friedman open for private planes only. The irony? The small noisy jets that
drive Wood River Valley residents crazy could remain while the quiet commercial
jets would be forced out.
And what of the development pressure a new
airport may produce.
Planners say remote airports don’t stay
remote for long. Airports, like railroads before them, find that communities
grow up around them. People with airport jobs, air commuters, and companies with
air-related businesses populate them.
This has serious implications for any new
airport site as well as for traffic on an already crowded State Highway 75.
Just as important, will Friedman fall into
neglect over the next decade while the valley waits for a new airport to be
built? Or, will the airport still be forced to install the unpalatable
"improvements’" that forced the move to relocation?
The questions need answers before any
pretty site plans are posted. Otherwise, the valley cherished by residents and
visitors alike will be at risk.