A major expansion planned for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport drew objections Monday night from homeowners and city officials who worry that it would increase airplane noise in places that already experience plenty of it.
Officials' claim that only 1,131 homes would need new sound-proofing was no comfort to Tom Knickelbine. "Every single person walking around Lake Harriet is going to feel this," said Knickelbine, who lives near the lake, where more noise and sound-proofing are expected. "I don't live in my home 24/7."
He was among a couple of dozen residents at the public hearing at airport headquarters in Minneapolis on the $1.5 billion plan to expand the airport to handle an expected increase in traffic by 2020.
Officials say the airport could become unacceptably congested without expansion, and developing another airport is unrealistic. Future high-speed rail would do little to reduce air traffic, they say.
They defended the expansion as one that would have no significant environmental effect on surrounding neighborhoods in Minneapolis and its suburbs. But residents bristled at that conclusion.
"You claim no significant impact," said Bob Friedman, who lives in a south Minneapolis neighborhood where residents have complained about more noise but don't qualify for additional noise abatement measures under the expansion plan. "Our home values are dropping and will drop further."
The airport's conclusion is contained in an environmental assessment that needs federal approval before the Metropolitan Airports Commission can proceed with the expansion. MAC says it would roll out any expansion in stages to meet demand.
The plan calls for remodeling concourses and building a new international wing and a parking ramp, paid for mostly with airport revenues from passengers and airlines.
