Citizens Still Oppose Longer Craig Runway Many Registered Their Disapproval for the Plan at Craig Municipal.

A town hall meeting Monday about the Jacksonville Aviation Authority’s plan for a longer runway at Craig Municipal Airport turned out a crowd of opponents.

About 170 people signed the attendance sheets for the meeting at New Covenant Ministries.

Among those who spoke, the overwhelming sentiment was against a longer runway.

Aviation authority officials, who sponsored the meeting, said the comments would be entered into the official record for the proposed update of a master plan for the Arlington airport. But officials showed no change in the authority’s position in favor of the longer runway.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires regular updates of the master plan.

The inclusion of a longer runway in the master plan isn’t new, but it’s part of a continued push by the aviation authority to keep alive the possibility of a runway extension.

The authority also is doing a cost-benefit study required by FAA and considering a future environmental study.

Jacksonville City Hall has opposed a longer runway. Earlier this year, the authority tried to reverse the city’s restriction, but the authority withdrew that request after neighborhood-based opponents said a majority of City Council members still favored the limit.

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