The city recently submitted an Airport Layout Plan (ALP) to the FAA and the Michigan Department of Transportation, which serves both as a guide for DET’s future and a predicate for federal financial assistance to make the plan into a reality.
The Detroit News reported on the when the plan was first announced last summer that;
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The report also raises the prospect of tunneling under McNichols Road to extend the center line of the airport’s main 5,090-foot-long runway, which “does not meet current FAA design standards.”
The move would allow 405 feet of the existing runway to become usable, and for the reopening of McNichols to reconnect with the adjacent community.
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There is now a feasibility study being done by the city to decide whether to move forward on the tunnel and runway extension. While not the biggest piece news from this project it’s small step to what many have been calling on the powers that be to do for decades now.
Bringing the DET up to FAA standards adding in new modern facilities and facilitating new development will go a long way towards reviving Coleman A Young Internationals purpose as a key economic engine.
Commercial passenger service a long held goal of advocates is still a long way off that would require a significant increase in the main runway size however justifying the costs and disruptions that would be required would become much more realistic with upgraded and economically viable facility. In the mean time the city can certainly benefit from the increasing access to the downtown area for the business community and other contingents interested in charter flights.
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Detroit finalizing FAA plan that could garner big federal dollars for city airport
ANNALISE FRANK
Crain’s Detroit
April 11, 2021
Of the $150 million in work proposed over 20 years, the city expects the FAA would pay for around 35 percent, the Michigan Department of Transportation would contribute 3 percent, the city would pay nearly 6 percent and the other nearly 60 percent would come from private sources.
The first multimillion dollar project the city is targeting is a long-talked-about acquisition of mostly vacant residential land just west of the airport. The 72 acres is bounded by McNichols Road, Lyford Avenue, Gilbo Avenue and French Road. The city is looking to scoop up the parcels, then clear and prepare them this year and next at a total cost of $10.6 million, per the capital plan. They're needed to create an obstacle-free zone for safety reasons, per the FAA, and the site is also targeted for new airport infrastructure, as Crain's and others previously reported.
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Airport leadership is in talks with Detroit public schools about using the main terminal building — which used to house commercial services but is no longer suited for them, per Watt — for a new Davis Aerospace High School. There's also been interest in potentially building a new school.
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https://www.crainsdetroit.com/transp...174B253F65C223