FAA recently awarded the Port of Seattle a $750,000 grant to integrate sustainability into the next master plan for Seattle-Tacoma International. The port commission last week approved $6 million for the creation of a new airport sustainability master plan that will provide a long-term blueprint for airport development to meet the needs of the traveling public and that reduce environmental impacts, the port said in a release.
“This is the next forward looking step for understanding environmental, economic and social sustainability as the airport looks to future development,” said Elizabeth Leavitt, director of planning and environmental at Sea-Tac Airport. “Sustainability will be a core objective in this plan to help create a vision for how the Century Agenda goals established by the commission will influence the future of the airport.”
The last formal master plan for the airport was done in the mid-1990s. At that time, Sea-Tac handled 22 million annual passengers (MAP). This total has increased by 50 percent to nearly 33 million passengers in 2011, the port said. Growth is anticipated to reach more than 40 MAP over the next decade and could potentially be as much as 55-60 MAP as technology makes it possible for more people to move through the airport.
This master plan update will look at providing for growth in a sustainable manner within the limited footprint of the airport. Master plan analysis will look at 10 to 25-year planning horizons to address strategic visions for airfield and terminal development, landside access improvements, modernization and expansion of facilities.
The airport sustainability master plan is expected to be complete in 2016.
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