Runway Safety Area
BACKGROUND
In the early 2000s, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) updated their design standards for all the airports in the nation. The primary goals were to increase safety, decrease delays, comply with federal environmental standards and encourage innovative technologies that promote safety, capacity, and efficiency.
The largest impact to Easton Airport was the need to increase the size of the Runway Safety Area (RSA) to ensure 1,000 ft. existed at both ends of the primary runway. To accomplish this, the threshold of Runway 22 was displaced and the operational use of Runway 4 was restricted to only 4,775 ft.
SAFETY AREA SOLUTION
This interim solution was enacted via waiver with the FAA in July 2008. Fortunately, Easton Airport had already started the process of conducting an environmental assessment and was in the planning stages to determine a long term solution.
Over the next few years, a few options were vetted with community involvement and periods of public comment. It was eventually decided that the best solution was to add additional length to the primary runway and then demolish the northern portion of runway.
SAFETY AREA SOLUTION CONTINUED
This plan required Easton Airport to purchase the adjacent property, formerly owned by the Black and Decker Corporation. This would allow for the “shift” of the runway to occur and provide enough space for the required 1,000 ft. Runway Safety Area. Talbot County purchased the property for this purpose in January 2017.
FINAL APPROVAL
After an exhaustive 12 year planning period, the Environmental Assessment was finalized on September 29, 2018. The EA reviewed the following areas and determined there were either no impacts, or that the impacts could be properly mitigated:
- Air Quality
- Biological Resources
- Coastal Zone Management
- Farmland
- Hazardous Materials, Solid Waste, and Pollution Prevention
- Historical, Architectural, Archaeological, and Cultural Resources
- Noise
- Socioeconomics, Environmental Justice, and Children’s Environmental Health and Safety Risks
- Water Resources
- Wetlands
- Construction Impacts
It’s also important to note that this is the only FAA approved plan and all other alternatives that were explored over a decade ago have been abandoned.
Some misconceptions still exist today, but Easton Airport has NO PLANs to purchase and demolish any homes, will NOT extend the runway towards Rt.50, and will NOT extend the runway towards Goldsborough Neck Rd.
