Renton Residents Worry About Airport Expansion

By Karen Johnson, Seattle Times

Sep. 30–As a flight attendant for United Airlines for 40 years, Renton resident Peggi Galster grew accustomed to airport noise and loud planes.

“When I was working, I would cease a conversation when the engines started,” Galster said.

But at her home in the Kennydale neighborhood, Galster says she has to cover her ears when planes fly overhead.

“Renton is shaped like a bowl, and the sound bounces out off the water like it’s a megaphone,” she said.

Galster, like many who live in her Kennydale neighborhood, say noise from planes that fly into and out of Renton Municipal Airport can be unbearable at times. Several proposals to expand the city’s airport has Galster and many more worried that their noise nuisance could become a nightmare.

Galster and a dozen others shared similar stories at a community meeting Wednesday night in Renton. Renton and Mercer Island have agreed to split the cost of the $130,000 study to measure how noise from the airport affects residents in the cities.

Renton city leaders will use the results, expected early next year, to help it create a plan for expansion of the airport.

The study will be conducted by Harris Miller Miller & Hanson, a consultant group out of Massachusetts that studies noise and vibration control.

Mary Ellen Eagan, who will lead the study said the meeting helped identify the needs of the community and determine the scope of the study.

Residents were briefed on the three master-plan alternatives to develop the airport site, which range from recreational to commercial in scope.

Wednesday’s meeting comes months after Renton City Council postponed choosing a master plan for the airport, amid growing backlash from Mercer Island and Renton residents. Residents from both cities complained that the council had not considered community feedback when drafting the three alternatives.

Karen Johnson: 253-234-8605 or karenjohnson@seattletimes.com

—–

To see more of The Seattle Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.seattletimes.com.

Copyright (c) 2007, Seattle Times

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.