The future of transit in and around Lindbergh Field may well be shaped by plans set forth earlier this month by the San Diego Regional Airport Authority Board.
Board members unanimously approved two alternatives to the airport’s environmental impact report to be used for its master plan, including a recommendation to consider an intermodal transit center.
The idea could be used to develop a hub linking several forms of air and ground traffic and possibly even a trolley stop.
The EIR changes adopted Thursday, May 3, also include an analysis of the report without the slated Terminal Two parking structure, according to Keith Wilshetz, director of airport planning.
In the case of both recommendations, the goal is to provide people with opportunities to take advantage of centralized transit to and from the airport, while taking as many cars off the roads as possible, Wilshetz said.
“We want to leave no stone unturned, in terms of providing the chance for people to get here on transit,” Wilshetz said.
The planned transit center would provide a location for transit services with an internal roadway connecting the north and south terminals, according to Wilshetz.
The current EIR for the airport’s master plan analyzes the environmental effects of 10 new gates at Terminal Two West, a dual-level roadway at Terminal Two, the reconstruction of taxiway C, and increased space for aircraft parking, he said.
The vote included the transit center at the “programmatic level,” meaning that its environmental impacts on the surrounding area would be projected to the year 2030. However, the document will need to be reviewed by the public and state and local transportation agencies before being added as an actual project, he said.
“We want input from the agencies so that we don’t have any surprises,” Wilshetz said.
A release date of the draft EIR has not been determined, although it will probably be ready by summer or early fall for public review and comment, Wilshetz said. A final draft may possibly be ready by March 2008, Wilshetz said.
The report analyzes the environmental impacts of potential projects and compares them with an analysis of the airport without the projects, Wilshetz said.
Any impact on traffic, air quality, noise and other areas would have to be mitigated, he said.
The Airport Authority Transit Committee meets regularly with transit planning committees from Caltrans, San Diego Association of Governments, MTS and the North County Transit District, said Steven Shultz, Airport Authority spokesperson.
Also approved during the meeting were recommended amendments to Sen. Christine Kehoe’s Senate Bill 10 that would restructure the Airport Authority and its responsibilities.
The proposed bill would restructure the Airport Authority by reducing the number of members of the board from nine to seven, create a taxpayer oversight committee and create a “consolidated agency” made up of elected officials and representatives of transit agencies that would be responsible for future airport planning.
Of the board’s 11 recommendations, it voted to retain a nine-member board and to remain the only entity permitted to plan for the San Diego International Airport, according to a statement released by San Diego Regional Airport Authority.
“I think we’re well on our way toward agreement, maybe not on every little thing, but we’re working toward consensus,” Kehoe said in a May 7 phone interview.
Created in 2003 by state law, the Airport Authority operates the San Diego International Airport and serves as the San Diego County’s Airport Land Use Commission, which oversees development of land surrounding the county’s 16 airports within San Diego County, Shultz said.