Airport expansion plans could mean families moving from their homes

(4/04/06 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- The city's largest major airport could soon get even bigger. Plans are in the works to add two new runways to Bush Intercontinental.

Bush Airport is the ninth busiest airport in the country and is a major contributor to the local economy -- an economic engine pumping in $20 billion a year. The changes we've seen at the airport in the last three years are only the beginning.

The homeowners on Buckow Street certainly aren't aviation experts but they might as well be considering what they go through every day.

Resident Doyle Lemmons said, "When the airplanes are coming in and taking off, you can't even hear a conversation that's going on."

Lemmon says noise has been a problem ever since he moved here almost 20 years ago. But it won't be his problem much longer.

"They tell us they are going to put a new runway here, go down a little further and put in another runway," he said.

One of the new runways would run parallel to an existing runway on the south side of the airport directly through a subdivision. It should be finished by 2013. The other proposed runway is on the airport's north side. That one's slated for completion by 2021.

Tom Bartlett with the Houston Airport System explained, "The location is chosen based on analysis and review of air traffic demands and the number of flights projected."

As head of the airport's operation systems, Bartlett says this project is all part of a 20 year master plan. What's fueling this particular plan? The projected growth at Bush Airport over the next 20 years when passenger traffic is expected to increase from 39 million passengers a year to 68 million.

Steps are now being taken to purchase about 1,000 acres of land, including the homes on Buckow Street. Just how much will residents get for their homes? No one really knows for sure but many here say the sooner the buyout happens, the better.

"Sounds great to me, because I don't really like it out here," said resident Sherry Putnam.

Resident Jimmy Putnam said, "I'm OK with it if they'd just get it done."

Right now, the environmental impact studies are being conducted so it'll be a while, perhaps a few years, before a buyout would take place. Airport officials say they will continue to hold public hearings in an effort to keep residents in the loop.
(Copyright © 2006, KTRK-TV)

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