TagPuget Sound Regional Council(191)

This document summarizes the Puget Sound Regional Council’s planning process for amending the Metropolitan Transportation Plan to include a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. It covers the history of regional aviation planning from the 1988 Regional Airport System Plan through the Flight Plan Project, Sea-Tac Master Plan, and Expert Arbitration Panel findings on noise

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.

This 1996 Puget Sound Regional Council document summarizes the decision-making process behind adding a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, tracing planning efforts from the late 1980s through 1996. It outlines how regional studies, including the Flight Plan Project and an Expert Panel evaluation, concluded that no feasible alternative airport sites existed and that options like high-speed rail or congestion pricing could not replace the need for the new runway. The amendment to the Metropolitan Transportation Plan was approved subject to conditions requiring noise reduction measures and demand management actions.

The Puget Sound Regional Council held an Executive Board Workshop on May 30, 1996, at the Bellevue Conference Center to discuss and respond to Expert Panel recommendations on noise reduction measures. The day-long session included board dialogue aimed at directing staff to prepare a Draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan Amendment—including a refined list of noise reduction measures—for public review before a June 27, 1996 vote. The workshop was part of an ongoing regional planning process addressing transportation-related noise impacts in the greater Seattle–Puget Sound area.

In May 1996, the Puget Sound Regional Council issued this Environmental Impact Statement Addendum to evaluate a proposal to add a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) with specific noise reduction measures. The addendum was needed because a prior 1993 resolution authorizing the third runway had lapsed after the Port of Seattle failed to meet an independent noise-reduction review deadline by April 1, 1996. The Council considered new conditions and expert panel recommendations to reintroduce the third runway into the region's Metropolitan Transportation Plan while addressing community noise concerns.

The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) held an Executive Board Meeting on April 25, 1996, at the Olympic Room, Seattle Center, beginning at 9:00 A.M. A key agenda item was a communications packet regarding an Expert Arbitration Panel's decision on airport noise and demand/system management issues, with follow-up action on noise also listed under New Business. The meeting covered additional regional transportation matters, including certification of local comprehensive plan transportation elements and amendments to the 1996–98 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).