Quote:
Originally Posted by phoenixboi08
|
LGA is in the middle of the city basically. NIMBY power would never allow for a massive operation at LGA with the massive pollution consequences right over extremely dense neighborhoods. The neighborhoods there are already suffering from health issues. These are very dense areas. Even if they somehow got it through, I'm not interested in having a massive airport there. I believe JFK is a far better place to expand than LGA given the location on the ocean. All it needs is better access (think London).
Best option is to either build a new airport (which would most likely have to be off-shore, thus ruling it out for the USA), or expand existing airports. JFK has far more room for expansion than LGA or EWR, it's just a matter of political will to get it done. It has approaches/takeoff options over the open sea which is a major benefit over LGA. The other options are either too far away (Stewart/ISP) or politically impossible (building a new greenfield airport somewhere close to NYC).
My dream scenario would be that the government sell off military land in Jersey -- either the Earl Weapons Range or the McGuire AFB, and a new massive NYC-PHL area airport is built from scratch (8 runways) to replace EWR/JFK and bring more capacity for Philadelphia. LGA would remain for business/short hauls. HSR lines from multiple points would allow easy access from all points of the metro area and central check in terminals with secure baggage transfer could be built in Manhattan and Philadelphia to speed up travel.
Realistically, I see JFK adding another runway on existing land when passenger figures force the hand of the authorities. There is room for another runway on the north side of JFK right now if the hangers are demolished. Airspace restrictions can be dealt with with future NextGen technology. There really is no way I can see LGA being expanded as it's not worth it as the RPA figures showed in there major report.