| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
Cost of expanding LAX likely to exceed $9 billion price tag
Monday August 11, 2003LOS ANGELES (AP) The cost of expanding and remodeling Los Angeles International Airport is likely to exceed its $9 billion price tag once dozens of projects proposed by Mayor James Hahn to reduce the effects of the construction are added, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
In a 5,323-page environmental study conducted for the mayor's $9 billion airport modernization plan, proposals to compensate for increased traffic, noise and pollution include reconfiguring roads and intersections around the airport, building new park-and-ride centers, conducting noise studies and relocating endangered species.
However, the estimated costs of the dozens of projects proposed are absent from the 11-volume environmental study, the Times reported Sunday. Such mitigation measures are required by state and federal law to lessen the impact of construction.
The $9 billion estimate to overhaul the aging airport also does not include the cost of moving 6,000 people out of their homes and buying the remaining houses and apartment buildings in a Westchester neighborhood where Hahn wants to build a new passenger check-in center.
Nor does the price tag include the financing costs of the airport expansion, such as interest and insurance on revenue bonds, the Times reported.
Hahn is already facing skepticism from airlines, residents and business groups that question whether his plan is necessary to make LAX more secure and efficient. The disclosure that the $9 billion estimate may not represent the true cost of overhauling the airport has added to their concerns.
``The number is already so huge that the airlines are unbelievably concerned,'' said Kelley Brown, an airline consultant. ``The airlines also know in situations like this at airports it's not unusual for costs to rise as time goes on.''
Hahn envisions a dramatically redesigned Los Angeles airport. He would like to demolish three terminals and build an offsite passenger drop-off and pick-up site from which travelers would ride an elevated train about a mile to their flights.
The mayor released the environmental study for his airport expansion plan on July 9 and will hold hearings on the document starting Monday.
(