Rob Horowitz: Airport Expansion Agreement is a Big Step Forward

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Rob Horowitz, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

 

Ending nearly ten years of stalemate and contention, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation and the Warwick City Council reached agreement last week on a long-planned airport expansion. Forged in tough negotiations, the agreement paves the way for the lengthening of one of the runways to 8,700 feet and allows for the implementation of needed safety improvements. In return, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation is required to address the pollution and quality of life concerns of area residents as well as to move recreational facilities that could have been negatively impacted by the expansion.

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This agreement is a big step forward for Rhode Island enabling the state to better capitalize on one of its most important economic assets. Extending the runway to 8,700 feet greatly improves the Airport’s competitive position by providing the ability to launch nonstop flights to the West Coast and Europe. This will give TF Green a needed boost in ongoing efforts to recruit new airlines and passengers. Also, as Grow Smart Rhode Island notes it provides a greater incentive for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to increase the “frequency of its service in and out of Green to Providence, Boston and Wickford Junction.”

Modernizing the airport will have important long-term benefits for our state’s economy. .Improving transit infrastructure is a major key to successful economic development in today’s global economy where the rapid movement of goods and people is critical for staying competitive and creating new jobs. Further, it will provide momentum for the mixed use development planned adjacent to the train station—momentum that should translate into sustained additional property tax dollars for the City of Warwick.

In the short-term, the 1,000 or so good paying construction jobs that will be created by this project provide a badly needed shot-in-the-arm. After all, Rhode Island’s unemployment rate continues to hover near 11%--the third highest rate in the nation.

Perhaps most importantly, the forging of this agreement, coming on top of the adoption of comprehensive pension reform last year, demonstrates that Rhode Island can do big things and solve difficult problems. In this case, Rhode Island business, labor and political leaders worked together across interest group, party and state and local divisions to accomplish something important that was good for the state as a whole. Warwick elected officials and residents deserve special praise for putting aside the usual reflexive not in my backyard attitude and negotiating an agreement that protected residents, but is also good for the rest of us.

The positive action on this important, but contentious issue provides a refreshing contrast to the policy gridlock and finger pointing in our nation’s capital. A few more big accomplishments like this and Rhode Island really will be on a roll

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