HOUSTON, Alaska (KTUU) – The City of Houston is in the beginning phases of looking to establish a municipal airport, but Willow residents aren’t sold on the idea, as the state land identified as a potential location falls within its city boundaries.
The proposed location for the airport would support a 10,000-foot runway — only 2,000 feet shorter than Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport’s longest runway.
Houston Mayor Carter Cole said he believes an airport should have been put in the city a long time ago.
“Air is such a critical thing for Alaska travel,” Cole said. “I can’t see how you could not have it and why it was never put here before.”
The proposed idea has been met with opposition by Willow residents, who have expressed their concerns over noise pollution and environmental impacts if a large-scale airport were to be built in the proposed area located south of Nancy Lake and east of Lynx Lake.
Tryg Erickson — who is in his third year as Chairman of the Willow Area Community Organization (WACO) — said the community was blind-sided by the City of Houston’s proposal, having first heard about it nearly a week ago.
“The Houston folks seem to be acting as if there’s an emergency — as if the 747s are circling nearby looking for a place to land — so it’s a bit of a surprise,” Erickson said.
According to Erickson, who has been an aviator most of his life, Willow has 27 federally recognized landing strips within its organizational area. He said he doesn’t see the need, nor does he understand why, the City of Houston is proposing such a large-scale air hub.
Moreover, he’s concerned that it’s going to inevitably be a waste of state and taxpayer resources.
“The general belief is that this is just one more project that will probably never happen, but that we will invest millions and millions of dollars studying and investigating,” Erickson said. “And after we’re a few million dollars into it, the consensus is,’Well, we spent so much money, why should we stop spending now?’”
Erickson said he doesn’t want the Houston municipal airport project to fall into the same category of forgotten projects within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, referencing the Susitna Dam and Point McKenzie Railroad projects.
While Cole said he’s not concerned that the wave of opposition will stall any progress on moving the project forward, he was surprised by the initial negative reaction by Willow residents during the early phases of planning.
“I mean, I probably won’t even be alive when that thing is all developed,” Cole said. “I was extremely taken aback that people were trying to speak ill of something that is 20 or 30 years out there … if it’s developed.”
Another element to support the proposed municipal airport, Cole said, would be less impact on Alaska’s road infrastructure — as freight could be brought into the area by air instead of truck — and that the airport could serve as a means to get to supplies in an emergency, like if the bridges across the Knik and Matanuska Rivers ever went out.
“If we were to lose those bridges, how else would you serve the north end of town?” Cole said.
Erickson, however, disagreed. He believes the number and varying lengths of the dozens of landing strips in the area — on top of the larger municipal airports in Palmer and Wasilla — could accommodate disaster response operations.
“Those are all good, high-quality airports that have been around forever,” Erickson said. “I can’t see a particular need for one in Houston.”
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