As third Sea-Tac runway opens, some seek a fourth

As the first jetliner takes off today on Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's new $1 billion third runway, state and local decision-makers are already debating where in Puget Sound to put a fourth runway or its equivalent.

The third runway is a colossal engineering feat that spawned lawsuits, delays and an ongoing federal investigation into lax and possibly corrupt construction practices.

While it will reduce delays at Sea-Tac and eventually allow the airport to comfortably handle 150,000 more flights a year, the third runway won't solve the region's needs in 25 years, according to a panel appointed by Gov. Christine Gregoire.

"There is a need for more commercial-airline space in Puget Sound and that's the big debate we've been wrestling with," said Carol Moser, chair of the state Aviation Planning Council.

The council must make recommendations to Gregoire and the Legislature by July. While Moser and other panel members won't commit to any sites yet, others say Paine Field in Snohomish County is the best choice.

"I don't really see a good second option," said Andrea Riniker, who was director of Sea-Tac when the third-runway project was launched.

But there is long-standing opposition in Snohomish County, particularly in the south near Paine Field, which sits between Mukilteo and Everett.

When Brian Sullivan was doorbelling last year in Mukilteo as a Snohomish County Council candidate, he said people were pretty blunt.

They wanted to know where he stood on bringing commercial airlines to Paine Field.

"It would be difficult to win a countywide election favoring airport expansion," said Sullivan, who was elected partly because he opposes adding commercial flights at Paine Field.

That feistiness sets up one of the region's next big fights, the kind — like the debates over the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Highway 520 bridge — that seem to paralyze policymakers with conflict and process.

The idea of bringing airlines to Paine Field is not new. It was advocated by the same study that called for the third runway in 1992.

"It's only logical," said Bob Wallace, an Eastside developer who led the regional study on how to handle air-travel demand.

Snohomish County's population is growing and the drive from the county to Sea-Tac is increasingly difficult.

"If you live in Snohomish County and have an early flight, you almost have to come the night before and stay at Sea-Tac," Wallace said.

Paine Field, a former military base about 30 miles north of Seattle, is a perfectly good airport, notes Everett City Councilmember Paul Roberts. Boeing uses it to manufacture big jets and to deliver them to customers.

The airport has three paved runways and now operates at less than 40 percent of its capacity, according to the Aviation Planning Council.

Bringing airline service to Paine Field wouldn't pose the same expensive engineering and environmental challenges as building the third runway, Roberts said. That project required construction of a 130-foot-tall plateau and retaining wall, the largest of its kind in North America, to make the new runway level with the existing ones.

Two Snohomish County cities, Everett and Marysville, support Paine Field expansion, arguing it would boost the local economy.

Unappealing alternatives

Alternatives to Paine Field are not very appealing.

Sea-Tac officials don't want to expand further, and space constraints make building a fourth runway impractical. Airfields at Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base south of Tacoma are not viable because of their strategic roles and aversion to civilian flight interruptions, the aviation council concluded.

An old Air Force base at Moses Lake has long held allure, but it is too far — 180 miles — from Seattle.

Bellingham also seems too far to the north, Riniker said. And King County's Boeing Field is too close to Sea-Tac to absorb a lot of commercial flights.

Gregoire's panel looked at high-speed rail as an alternative to more in-state flights, but concluded it was not likely to supply relief by the 2030 planning target.

The panel, though, is convinced the region's demand for more flights will increase despite current economic troubles.

Snohomish County residents have long argued that increased jet noise at Paine Field will harm their quality of life, property values and even student test scores. Fierce opposition to expansion there is one reason regional leaders opted to build Sea-Tac's third runway.

Opponents were reinvigorated last summer when Horizon Air and Allegiant Airlines indicated they want to soon start flying out of Paine Field to destinations including Spokane and Las Vegas.

Six cities are formally against commercial service at Paine Field, as is the County Council. County Executive Aaron Reardon has also said he is against expansion because it's not compatible with areas surrounding Paine Field.

But the Federal Aviation Administration, which has spent $57 million on airport improvements, admonished county officials this year. An FAA letter to airport director Dave Waggoner warned the county that it can't prohibit commercial flights at Paine Field.

"We can't ban (commercial flights) but we can discourage them. I feel it's my job to discourage them," said Sullivan, a former state representative and Mukilteo mayor.

Sullivan and six Snohomish County mayors also argue that commercial flights at Paine Field would jeopardize Boeing's operations.

Roberts calls that argument "grasping at straws."

Ready to fight

When Boeing is going full-bore, its operations amount to less than 1 percent of Paine's capacity, said Roberts, who was appointed by Gregoire to the aviation council, but stressed he was speaking personally, not on behalf of the group.

Boeing has no official position on commercial service at Paine Field, said company spokesman Peter Conte.

Sullivan said he is mindful that cities near Sea-Tac spent $15 million on legal battles against the third runway.

"You've got to know when to fight and when to negotiate," he said. "And I'm not done fighting yet."

Chris Gower, a citizen activist from Normandy Park who spent 10 years battling the third runway, said he would advise Paine Field opponents to "sue early and often."

Even though cities near Sea-Tac spent $15 million, they leveraged about $150 million in environmental mitigation, Gower said, such as a relocated creek where spawning salmon were recently seen.

Gower also questioned forecasts for more commercial flights in Puget Sound. He suspects rising fuel costs, concerns about global warming, and advances in teleconferencing and other innovations will lead to less air travel.

"Who's to say we won't have new radar or navigation systems that would allow faster landings in bad weather?"

Bob Young: 206-464-2174