FAA Issues Warning About Paseo Bridge Tower
By Brad Cooper, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Dec. 13–The Federal Aviation Administration is warning that the design for the new Paseo Bridge poses a hazard for air traffic at the Wheeler Downtown Aiport.
In a notice issued Dec. 4, the FAA said the height of the proposed bridge — 220 feet above ground level — would interfere with navigable air space around the airport.
“If this is built, as it was explained to us, there could be some hazard to planes flying into that airport,” said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro.
The FAA can’t stop the Missouri Department of Transportation from including the tower in the design of the landmark bridge, Molinaro said. But if the bridge is constructed as proposed, the FAA would have to look at imposing new flight restrictions in and out of the airport.
What those might be cannot be known until the issue is studied in more detail, Molinaro said.
MoDOT says it doesn’t want to be a “bad neighbor” and is working with Kansas City and the FAA to work out any issues with the height of the bridge.
“We’re certainly not going to run out there and do something that puts anybody in jeopardy,” said Brian Kidwell, director of the $245 million Paseo Bridge project.
“We’ll explore options and opportunities to figure out what can be done.”
The FAA said a 96-foot-high bridge would be acceptable. But if the limit is 96 feet, MoDOT couldn’t build the kind of landmark structure that many Kansas Citians said they wanted in a new Missouri River crossing, Kidwell said.
In August, MoDOT informed the FAA of the potential height of the bridge so the agency could analyze its effect on air traffic. The study wasn’t completed until last week, a little less than a month after the project contract was awarded.
Construction is expected to start in April on the Paseo Bridge project, with completion targeted for June 1, 2011. The project also includes widening I-29/35 to three lanes from roughly Missouri 210/Armour Road to the northeast corner of the downtown freeway loop.
It was unclear this morning how the FAA notice might affect the construction schedule.
Mark Van Loh, director of the Kansas City Aviation Department, said he thought the high bridge tower could be hazardous to planes taking off and landing from the downtown airport’s main runway.
He suggested a solution might be to reroute air traffic west of the airport over Kansas, but he was unsure whether there might be industrial structures in Kansas City, Kan., that might pose a problem.
“I am confident we will get this worked out,” he said. “I am not that concerned.”
To reach Brad Cooper call 816-234-7724 or send e-mail to bcooper@kcstar.com.
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