Taxiway plan upsets neighbors
A proposed 9,300-foot centerfield taxiway at Logan International Airport has neighbors vowing to petition, demonstrate, and seek help from officials to block the project.
Officials with the Massachusetts Port Authority say the $50 million taxiway will move planes in and out faster and help avoid incursions, or near-collisions. The project, in the public comment phase until Aug. 21, still must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and Massport. If green-lighted, two years of construction would begin in May 2008.
Neighbors who met at the Orient Heights Yacht Club Wednesday night say that more taxi space will mean more planes, noise, and pollution. About 75 people attended the boisterous meeting, led by Bob D'Amico, a city planner and local resident. Across the water, planes rumbled and shook the building as the meeting went on .
``The only reason I had this meeting is that I wanted you to understand what was proposed," D'Amico told the crowd. ``This got buried." The planner said the centerfield taxiway was wrapped into a 2002 environmental impact statement for the adjoining runway, scheduled to open in the fall.
The taxiway plan traveled the proper channels and has been vetted by environmental agencies, D'Amico said. A federal report found that nothing more could be done to lessen impact on residents. Neighbors should focus on creating political pressure, instead of a legal attack, he said. D'Amico and Tom Bruno, president of the Orient Heights Neighborhood Council, urged neighbors to write to US Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, US Representative Michael E. Capuano, and Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
``This is not going to work from the bottom up," D'Amico said. ``It has to start from the top down."
Menino, in a phone interview Thursday, said he opposes the taxiway. ``I'm concerned about the impact it will have on the residents that abut the airport," he said.
Councilor Sal LaMattina told the group Wednesday night that the City Council recently passed a resolution stating that the taxiway will exacerbate noise and pollution and requesting an additional 90 days for comment. He said he also is seeking a public hearing to force the FAA and Massport to present facts and allow interested parties to respond.
At times, the meeting got loud, as neighbors disagreed on tactics. Some pushed legal action; others letter-writing. Joe Ruggiero, 47, planned to immediately circulate a petition, then meet again with volunteers at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Yacht Club. Others talked of a demonstration.
But all agreed that East Boston and neighboring Winthrop already suffer too much noise and pollution from the airport.
``This is a disregard for the neighborhood," said George Hrono, 70. ``The people who are making these decisions are somewhere far away."
One day, looking across the water from his home on Bayswater Street, Hrono counted 17 planes idling. He said he's afraid that more space will equal more planes. But Massport spokeswoman Danny Levy said the taxiway is intended to cut down on noise and emissions. ``This will allow them to land and take off sooner." More space, she said, means fewer planes crossing paths.
