By Lisa Gordon | February 7, 2014 Estimated reading time 5 minutes, 1 seconds.
The Region of Waterloo is undertaking a master planning process that will determine the vision for future growth at its airport. Residents and stakeholders were invited to a public information session in Kitchener, Ont., on Feb. 7, where airport general manager Chris Wood explained four conceptual development options, all of which would be phased in over the next 20 years.
An airport planning project team – which includes staff from the airport, the Region of Waterloo, the township of Woolwich, and the surrounding cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, as well as representatives from the Grand River Conservation Authority and several elected officials – will evaluate the public feedback received on Feb. 7, as well as from another public consultation to take place later this year. From there, said Wood, the group will prepare a costing and construction plan for further public review, before a final option is presented to regional council in 2015.
The public is being asked to consider four proposed development plans.
The first involves simply maintaining the status quo. This option would see the airport top out at 53 weekly commercial flights, with growth restricted by the size of the existing terminal building, which has already been expanded twice since it was constructed in 2003. Under this option, the airport would serve 243,100 passengers annually. A handful of smaller-scale projects totaling about $5 million would be completed, involving improvements to parking facilities and a reconfiguration of the existing terminal.
Option two is the low growth model, which would involve extending the airport’s secondary cross-wind runway to 6,000 feet (from 4,100 feet), some taxiway extensions, and limited expansion of the terminal building. Passenger capacity would increase to 388,000 per year, with capital costs coming in at approximately $50 million.
The third plan under consideration is the moderate growth model, which would see all improvements from options 1 and 2, as well as the expansion of the terminal building with a second storey, the relocation of Runway 08-26 to the east (allowing for category 1 approach lighting at both ends), and various other infrastructure improvements. A third runway would be zoned but not built. This would allow the airport to service just over one million passengers annually, with capital improvement costs of $100 million.
Finally, a high growth model is being proposed that would see the implementation of extensive airport improvements, highlights of which include a brand new and relocated terminal building, new parking facilities, new entrance and access roads, and the construction of a third runway, among other changes. This high-level option was presented in response to the 2010 Pickering Lands Needs Assessment Study, which assessed Southern Ontario’s airport system, and referred to development of the Region of Waterloo International Airport as a determining factor when evaluating capacity up to the year 2032. Capital costs involved with this plan would be in excess of $500 million.
Although airport manager Chris Wood said he doesn’t recommend one particular option, he did say that only a couple of them make sense from a business standpoint. “One of the best quotes I’ve heard was ‘you can be a small airport, or you can be a big airport, but you can’t be a medium-sized airport,’” he told Canadian Skies. “You need the critical mass of the many, many flights landing and paying the bills to justify having an airport that’s capable of supporting scheduled service. If you look at what our insurance costs to have one WestJet flight, you may as well have 10 landing to spread out the costs. The runways have to be cleaned for one flight or 10 flights; and, I have to have firefighters for one flight or 10.”
Wood said all options must be carefully evaluated in terms of their impact on noise creation, the environment, and cost.
It will be a while yet before any final recommendations are made, but feedback is welcome and encouraged. Visit www.waterlooairport.ca/en/abouttheairport/masterplan.asp for more information.
