–– by Margie Doyle —
Orcas Airport (picture taken before trees cleared on southern part of Port land)
The Airport is currently completing an Airport Master Plan that will guide development over the next 20 years. The master plan began last September with an aeronautical survey to collect obstruction data and an inventory of the Airport’s existing facilities.
At the Open House on Wednesday, Jan. 10, Jim Greil, Aviation Project Manager for DOWL, the civil engineering firm overseeing the plan process, explained that the Master Plan is driven by both time and need; the last plan was done 10 years ago. The Master Plan is funded mostly through the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), he said.Leah Henderson, Manager Aviation Planning and Design, out of Lakewood Colorado is project lead. She said that, by its nature, island transportation is limited; “The airport plays a critical role in the community. It’s a necessary piece of infrastructure, providing medivac flights, freight, and public transport.”
However, the displays indicated that over the past year there were over 3,600 instrument flight plans filed to or from the Orcas Island Airport from Canada and the US; the vast majority of VFR (Visual Flight Rules) and IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flights to and from Orcas Island Airport are within the State of Washington.
Numerous displays at the Open House indicated Existing Runway Conditions, Runway Design Codes, Future Design Criteria, Representative Design Aircraft, and Critical Factors affecting the Orcas Airport Forecast (including FAA growth estimates for the Northwest and the U.S. and 20 -year Orcas population forecasts). These displays are available on the website at portoforcas.com/2017/10/PresentationBoard.pdf
The Master Plan will be a public process and there will be opportunities at any point throughout the process to become involved and give input on the issues that Orcas Islanders live with relative to the Port of Orcas.
Henderson can be reached by phone at 425-869-2670 or email at orcasmasterplan@dowl.com
Eric Strong, DOWL design engineer, said the point of the Master Plan is to bring the facilities “up to design standards for safety and operational efficiency.” The Port is currently designated as a B-1 airport serving B-2 aircraft; one of the issues that is to be addressed in the Master Plan, said Strong.
“Visitors see it as a valuable piece of transportation infrastructure, 45 minutes from Boeing field vs the 90 minutes it takes just to drive the same distance to Anacortes. And then there’s the ferry ride. But if you’ve got all the time in the world…”
As one example of the need to update, Greil mentioned that planes to the airport now have a longer wing span than forecasted by the last Master Plan.
The Master Plan schedule calls for another Open House in June, with forecasting and implementation planned for September and adoption of a new Master Plan soon afterwards. The master plan is expected to conclude in March 2019.
Public input can be given through comments on the master plan email orcasmasterplan@dowl.com or on the PortofOrcas website and in calls to Port Manager Tony Simpson at 360-376-5285 or emails to orcasairport@rockisland.com.
The next steps in the process include drafting and evaluating alternatives, environmental review and recommending alternatives, from April to September. Implementation is scheduled from September to March, 2019 as plan authors consider the capital improvement program, funding, airport layout plan and Draft and Final Reports.
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