Arlington Municipal Airport Development Plan Arlington Airport Development Plan | Page 173
mately 24.40 acres of land would be acquired between the existing airport property line and the road‐
way network associated with U.S. Interstate 20 to provide an enhanced safety and land use compatibil‐
ity buffer. It should be noted that a large portion of this area is currently controlled by the Airport via
an avigation easement. In order to satisfy safety standards, the RSA and ROFA would need to be
cleared of trees and any other obstructions and the terrain graded. In addition, the relocation of the
localizer associated with the ILS approach to Runway 34 is called for to maintain a compatible RSA.
As a result of the proposed runway extension, the approach and departure RPZs would extend farther
north over U.S. Interstate 20 and encompass portions of two parking lots that serve large commercial
office buildings as well as one of these buildings. Since the approach and departure RPZs for Runway
16 are the same size, the exhibit depicts only one RPZ for the north end. In order for the Airport to
gain positive control over this area, an avigation easement is proposed over the commercial land uses
that would encompass approximately 5.45 acres. Based upon updated FAA guidance detailed earlier in
this chapter, the FAA strongly discourages the introduction of new incompatibilities within RPZs, such
as U.S. Interstate 20 and the commercial business complexes.
Beyond the south end of the runway, Alternative 1 depicts the existing approach and departure RPZs
associated with the airfield system. In order to obtain control over portions of the approach RPZ that
extend outside of airport property, this alternative calls for two separate avigation easements. One
would entail 0.34 acres of land in the southeast portion of the RPZ adjacent to South Collins Street, and
the other would include 2.40 acres of land over residential land uses in the southwest portion of the
approach RPZ.
The RSA and ROFA deficiencies at the south end of the runway are not fully mitigated in this alterna‐
tive. As previously discussed, the FAA and TxDOT are aware of this safety deficiency and have ap‐
proved the non‐standard condition on the existing ALD.
Updated FAA guidance includes the need to plan for airfield geometry improvements in order to in‐
crease safety, primarily by avoiding runway incursions. As noted earlier in this chapter, the FAA dis‐
courages the location of taxiways which route aircraft across a runway in the high energy area. The
high energy area is defined as the middle third of a runway and is typically the location where aircraft
are moving rapidly for takeoff or landing. The high energy area associated with the proposed length on
Runway 16‐34 is outlined on Exhibit 4E. Under this condition, in order to limit runway crossings in the
high energy area, Alternative 1 calls for the removal of Taxiway J on the west side of the runway and
replaces it with a taxiway farther south extending west of Taxiway C to parallel Taxiway G. The rea‐
lignment of Taxiway H is also depicted that would provide a preferred right angle intersection to the
runway.
Runway 16‐34 Extension – Alternative 2
As presented on Exhibit 4F, Alternative 2 includes a 700‐foot northerly extension to Runway 16‐34 and
proposes a displaced landing threshold and the use of declared distances in order to mitigate RSA and
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