On Sunday November 1, 2015 Opinion section of the San Diego Union Tribune, I read this editorial by Steve Breen "Back To The Future of Lindbergh Field." He described the efforts underway to improve Lindbergh airport, including completely rebuilding the old Terminal 1. It will clearly be an expensive and disruptive project, and it will have significant obstacles to even getting off the ground. It will require Congress to approve an increase in the per passenger charge from $4.50 to $8.50 in addition to getting all of the approvals from state agencies, including the Coastal Commission.
The editorial also described the quiet effort underway by business leaders including Malin Burnham and Irwin Jacobs to study an eventual new tri-county international airport on Camp Pendleton. As part of that effort, Cal State University San Marcos (CSUSM) has completed two major studies during the past two years looking at the options. Here is a link to the CSUMSM 2015 study. I didn't even know that the idea was under consideration.
About 10 years ago, there was a lot of news about proposals for moving Lindbergh airport. It is considered too small to support the region's current population and has nowhere to grow. The approaches to the airport runway already have many complications due to geography and noise abatement, and still nearby residents are being disturbed. Miramar has been considered many times, but it also has similar noise and approach limitations.
At the time, I thought that locations on Camp Pendleton would be well suited for a new, regional airport. Since then, freeway traffic has clearly gotten worse. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) seems to be hitting limits on how many more flights it can handle. The many piecemeal improvements that have been made to LAX has resulted in a relatively ugly and somewhat unfriendly welcome to the huge number of people who pass through it. All of the other, smaller airports: Burbank, Long Beach, John Wayne have many more constraints that make them unlikely locations for a regional airport. It makes sense to have major airports somewhat evenly spaced so travelers will have shorter commute times from their homes. The space between SAN and John Wayne seems to need an airport to serve the South end of Orange County and Riverside County.
There may be good locations for an airport on Camp Pendleton along the coast. However I've often thought that one of the better locations would be the Naval Weapons Storage base that is between Camp Pendleton and Fallbrook. It is on a relatively high plateau, that while not completely flat could be graded. The storage facilities are a somewhat low value use of the land, and I believe could be relocated to a more inland location such as China Lake, which would make that land available. Overall, it would have only a minor impact on the Marine mission. I don't like the idea of having a lot of car & truck traffic going to a new airport in that area, but believe that any airport there should integrate rail service from the "tri-counties." To me that means that airport employees and travelers would take a security-screened train from San Diego (Oceanside), Riverside County (Temecula), and Orange County (San Clemente). Cargo and supplies would also be transported that way. We probably would not want the area to be built up with vertical parking, rental car companies and hotels. All of that could be distributed to the various train portals.
Camp Pendleton is an extremely valuable piece of real estate, and I'm not sure that it is being used to its best potential. Yes, I do agree that the Nation needs to maintain a certain amount of open space for the limited amount of extremely unique Southern California coastal flora and fauna. The Marines also need to have a location to train that allows them the freedom to train as they fight, which implies the need to be on coastal locations. It will take very careful planning to establish a balance among all of these constraints. I think it is possible to do, but will require the cooperation of a lot of groups to achieve.
The editorial also described the quiet effort underway by business leaders including Malin Burnham and Irwin Jacobs to study an eventual new tri-county international airport on Camp Pendleton. As part of that effort, Cal State University San Marcos (CSUSM) has completed two major studies during the past two years looking at the options. Here is a link to the CSUMSM 2015 study. I didn't even know that the idea was under consideration.
About 10 years ago, there was a lot of news about proposals for moving Lindbergh airport. It is considered too small to support the region's current population and has nowhere to grow. The approaches to the airport runway already have many complications due to geography and noise abatement, and still nearby residents are being disturbed. Miramar has been considered many times, but it also has similar noise and approach limitations.
At the time, I thought that locations on Camp Pendleton would be well suited for a new, regional airport. Since then, freeway traffic has clearly gotten worse. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) seems to be hitting limits on how many more flights it can handle. The many piecemeal improvements that have been made to LAX has resulted in a relatively ugly and somewhat unfriendly welcome to the huge number of people who pass through it. All of the other, smaller airports: Burbank, Long Beach, John Wayne have many more constraints that make them unlikely locations for a regional airport. It makes sense to have major airports somewhat evenly spaced so travelers will have shorter commute times from their homes. The space between SAN and John Wayne seems to need an airport to serve the South end of Orange County and Riverside County.
There may be good locations for an airport on Camp Pendleton along the coast. However I've often thought that one of the better locations would be the Naval Weapons Storage base that is between Camp Pendleton and Fallbrook. It is on a relatively high plateau, that while not completely flat could be graded. The storage facilities are a somewhat low value use of the land, and I believe could be relocated to a more inland location such as China Lake, which would make that land available. Overall, it would have only a minor impact on the Marine mission. I don't like the idea of having a lot of car & truck traffic going to a new airport in that area, but believe that any airport there should integrate rail service from the "tri-counties." To me that means that airport employees and travelers would take a security-screened train from San Diego (Oceanside), Riverside County (Temecula), and Orange County (San Clemente). Cargo and supplies would also be transported that way. We probably would not want the area to be built up with vertical parking, rental car companies and hotels. All of that could be distributed to the various train portals.
Camp Pendleton is an extremely valuable piece of real estate, and I'm not sure that it is being used to its best potential. Yes, I do agree that the Nation needs to maintain a certain amount of open space for the limited amount of extremely unique Southern California coastal flora and fauna. The Marines also need to have a location to train that allows them the freedom to train as they fight, which implies the need to be on coastal locations. It will take very careful planning to establish a balance among all of these constraints. I think it is possible to do, but will require the cooperation of a lot of groups to achieve.
