This 1996 Puget Sound Regional Council document summarizes the multi-year planning process that led to amending the regional transportation plan to include a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It traces decisions from the 1988 Regional Airport System Plan through the Flight Plan Project and environmental studies, explaining how planners concluded that no feasible alternative airport site existed and that measures like high-speed rail or congestion pricing could not substitute for added runway capacity. The plan also required implementation of additional noise reduction measures as a condition of approving the new runway.Open full document
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This document summarizes the Puget Sound Regional Council’s planning process for addressing long-term commercial air transportation capacity in the central Puget Sound region, including air travel demand forecasts and the environmental review process. It traces the history from the 1988 Regional Airport System Plan through the Flight Plan Project, the Sea-Tac Master Plan, and the Major Supplemental Airport Study. The document describes the conditions set for authorizing a third runway at Sea-Tac, including findings by an Expert Arbitration Panel on demand/system management and noise reduction objectives.