RESIDENTS SAY NEW LAX PLAN WON'T FLY.

Byline: Beth Barrett Daily News Staff Writer

Airport officials unveiled their third Los Angeles International expansion plan Tuesday with a host of traffic congestion, noise and safety mitigation features. But residents said it is still too big.

Although the latest version contains Los Angeles International Airport's concessions to communities surrounding LAX, reaction from residents suggested a hardening of battle lines and a continuing push to move more air traffic to Palmdale, Ontario and other outlying areas.

After the plan was presented to the Board of Airport Commissioners, Jack Driscoll, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, said it ``addresses all the issues better than the other two concepts.''

He said the plan does not soften the hard realities of such an expansion: The number of passengers would rise from about 60 million a year to roughly 98 million, and air cargo using LAX would more than double.

``People may not want to deal with it, but the facts are right there,'' Driscoll said.

Residents acknowledged the plan was far more sensitive to their concerns than two previous proposals but said they remain opposed to adding more than 600 flights per day over the next two decades.

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said the latest proposal does nothing to solve the inherent problem with expanding LAX since the city still would shoulder the burden of most air traffic between Mexico and San Francisco.

``Has my position changed? No,'' she said, adding that the proposal also threatens businesses in the area to make way for the expansion.

Robin Friedheim, vice president of the Alliance for Regional Solution for Airport Congestion and a Playa del Rey resident, said the newest LAX proposal fails to address spreading the air traffic to Palmdale and elsewhere.

``They got the message that the earlier plans were simply unacceptable, but they still only made slight little tinkering improvements,'' said Friedheim.

``It's just slight variations on the old theme, the same 98 million annual passengers that will be coming into LAX. For all the talk of regionalization, there's nothing about it. That's just not acceptable.''

Central to the expansion proposal is the anticipated growth in demand for air travel out of LAX by people living within a 20-mile radius of the airport. Higher-income travelers, businesses, studios and tourist destinations all are clustered there, Driscoll said.

Rapid transit need

Not until rapid transit matures and more people move out of the L.A. Basin toward Palmdale and other remote airports will that change markedly, he said.

``As much as everyone would like to think that people might be going to move out of their homes and jobs near LAX into those outlying communities, it's just not going to happen right away.

``I'm not opposed to a regional solution and I'm not here to figure out how much cement I can pour. But right now LAX has to grow, too.''

El Segundo Mayor Mike Gordon praised efforts to ease traffic congestion and noise.

``There is no real way to mitigate the concerns that are of interest to the communities in this area,'' Gordon said.

``The bottom line is the sheer growth of flights called for in the master plan. Those increases are going to significantly impact in a negative way what communities now enjoy. Traffic congestion, environmental pollution, the safety from more fly-arounds will all just become worse with more flights.

``I still believe the other airports in the region can accommodate the growth in their markets.''

The new LAX concept would add one additional runway to the south, but that runway would be restricted to commuter planes landing only. Further, it would buffer neighborhoods by industrial and commercial strips, Driscoll said.

``Landings also are a lot quieter. All of El Segundo would benefit,'' he said.

Third runway eliminated

Eliminated is a third runway that at one time was proposed to the north, but was vehemently protested by the Westchester community.

Also eliminated from the latest plan is a sixth runway, which communities protested.

The airport is acquiring about 2,000 apartment units and single-family homes through a voluntary program in Manchester Square to the east of the airport. The properties are being purchased in response to community members' requests, Driscoll said.

That property eventually will allow the airport to relocate most of its cargo warehouses so the two existing southern runways can be moved farther north - away from El Segundo, Driscoll said.

The Federal Aviation Administration ultimately would have to sign off on the new configuration, but won't evaluate it until the city decides whether the latest concept is the preferred one, said William C. Withycombe, FAA regional administrator for the Western Pacific Region.

The City Council will make that determination after a lengthy review by the airport and planning commissions, and a series of public hearings.

Gridlock addressed

The latest concept also seeks to address the traffic jam conditions that now exist around the airport and impact neighborhoods.

An ambitious airport expressway is proposed to take traffic from the already bumper-to-bumper San Diego Freeway at about the 90 Freeway and to route it onto an airport ring road with stops at major terminals.

Also envisioned is a Green Line rail extension to a proposed new western terminal, linking to a people-mover system.

Opponents, however, insist the plan is shortsighted in further adding flights to what, at 3,500 acres, already is one of the nation's smaller major airports.

Gordon said planners are just deferring solving a regional problem that will inevitably have to be faced.

``The question remains how to handle air traffic in the region beyond 2015,'' he said. ``We think that's best answered by a regional solution.''

Driscoll said that is not the concern of the moment - though it will be at som`e point in the future.

``LAX will have a capacity and we will reach it,'' he said. ``Then the only option is to build into the ocean and I don't think that will happen. At that time, Long Beach and other places with airports either will have to step up, or people will have to drive hundreds of miles.''

CAPTION(S):

Map

Map: Proposed new commuter runway (landings only)

SOURCE: Los Angeles International Airport