Would an airport in Pierce County change the area ‘for the worse?’

With the demand for a second airport increasing annually, the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission recently recommended three sites for Washington state’s next airport.

There are three options being considered for construction: “Pierce County East” located south of Graham that includes state route 161, “Pierce County Central” located south of South Creek which includes state routes 702 and 7, and “Thurston County Central” located southeast of East Olympia.

All sites would occupy a six-mile radius.

“I love these areas out in rural Pierce County, in the middle of nowhere in some ways, in an endearing way,” said Matt Driscoll, the opinion editor for The News Tribune, in an interview on the Gee and Ursula Show. “We’re not talking about a small airport here, we’re talking about a two-runway airport serving 20 million commercial passengers a year.”

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Driscoll’s most recent piece states that an airport would ruin goals for greater urban density to preserve the wide-open spaces that make Pierce County special.

“Just the thought of putting in a major airport in rural Pierce County, we talk about needing to protect our rural history and the things that make this county special,” Driscoll continued. “I just think it would forever change the landscape of Pierce County and forever change the landscape of that area for the worse.”

Sea-Tac International Airport serves approximately 50 million passengers a year, according to a study from the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC). The current facility is on track to exceed its capacity by 2050, with the council expecting demand for take-offs and landings to double by that time.

The commission expects to narrow its recommendations to a single location by June 2023.

“[The site is] nowhere near Interstate 5, and it takes a lot [of infrastructure],” Driscoll said. “I mean, you just talked about the amount of infrastructure that would have to be built to make it feasible for 20 million annual commercial passengers plus cargo to go in and out every year. I just think it would be just a monumental undertaking.”

Sea-Tac occupies the smallest geographic area of any major airport in the country, according to The Seattle Times. Sea-Tac is currently undergoing an expansion of its C Concourse, which is expected to start in 2023, to add four new floors to the existing building.

“I want it in Pierce County,” Gee Scott, co-host of the Gee and Ursula Show, said in response. “It takes about 20-25 minutes to get to the freeway, no doubt about it. But I gave you an opportunity to give me another place and outside of the ‘get off my lawn’ argument, you cannot give me another place. Sea-Tac’s already got something going on.”

Gee spoke to the growing urban population of areas south of Seattle as another reason to build an airport in Pierce County, while a location further east would be too far away.

The commission chose the three sites from a list of ten undeveloped locations. Airspace, infrastructure requirements, air cargo, community impact, environmental challenges, and cost estimates will be part of the commission’s analysis to choose a location.

Listen to Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin weekday mornings from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.