FEDS GIVE $56.5 MILLION TO LAX HOMES SOUNDPROOFING, RUNWAY FIX TO BE FUNDED.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

With the roar of jet engines reverberating overhead, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said Thursday that LAX will get $56.5 million in federal grants to improve runway safety and soundproof nearby homes.

A $29.5 million grant will help pay to relocate and build the south runway at Los Angeles International Airport, while $27 million will be spent to soundproof homes in Lennox, El Segundo and Inglewood.

``More so than any other airport, LAX is a symbol of life on the West Coast, but as we know, life changes,'' Mineta said during a news conference. ``Today we see real progress in making the airport safer, more efficient and a better neighbor.''

Plans call for moving the runway about 55 feet farther south, to make room for a new central taxiway designed to avert collisions and reduce airplane taxi and idle time.

LAX reported eight incursions, or near-misses, in 2005 and seven in 2004. Most of those occurred along the connecting taxiways between the two south runways.

LAX has more than 1,700 flights a day on its four runways, making it the fifth-busiest airport in the world.

The south runway will be closed in July and relocated by March 2007, with the new taxiway set for completion late that year, said Michael DiGirolamo, deputy executive director for Los Angeles World Airports, which operates LAX.

Officials do not expect the $250 million construction project to cause any flight delays.

The soundproofing money will be spent to install double-paned windows, solid doors and better attic insulation in homes now impacted by jet noise, providing residents ``a better quality of life,'' Mineta said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has invested more than $106 million to soundproof more than 2,400 homes since 1998, about half of the total completed. Ultimately, 8,000 will be soundproofed.

Mineta and other officials also visited the Westchester home of Bill West, 58, who proudly showed off his new insulation, windows and 150-pound front door.

``The door weighs more than I do!'' he joked.

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, third from left, toured an LAX runway Thursday and announced $56.5 million in federal grants to improve runway safety and soundproof nearby homes.

Ric Francis/Associated Press