U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters will meet with airline officials this week to discuss chronic delays at New York's JFK Airport.
The two-day session focusing on flight schedules will help her Aviation Rulemaking Committee recommend solutions to the nation's growing air traffic problem to President George W. Bush by December.
In 2006, 1,767,376 commercial planes flew in and out of JFK, Newark, LaGuardia and Philadelphia airports, all basically in proximity to each other in crowded East Coast airspace. If you saw a controller's blip-filled radar screen at rush hours, you might never want to fly in or out of there again. It's a scary sight.
Philadelphia International was the busiest of the four airports with 515,868 flights, at times, flights every few seconds. It has overtaxed runways, hectic operations, crazy concourses and misplaced baggage.
Unfortunately, it's the hub where many passengers from the Tri-State area must fly in order to get from here to anywhere on US Airways.
My point? An answer to Ms. Peters' and airlines' problems may be a short flight away -- Pittsburgh International Airport.
Many planes could be on the ground in Findlay in less time than they spend in the air in holding patterns at the other four airports, including JFK, where the number of arrival delays exceeding one hour increased by 114 percent in the first 10 months of fiscal 2007.
In 2000, Pittsburgh International had 448,785 takeoffs and landings, according to Federal Aviation Administration stats. Then, as now, the airport had plenty of extra gate, terminal, baggage, runway and other operating capacity.
In 2006, Pittsburgh International had only 235,264 takeoffs and landings, dropping its ranking to No. 42 nationally in flight operations. The number is still going down, no thanks to traitor US Airways. What a waste of a 15-year-old, $1 billion, first-class facility.
Among many other things, federal officials looking for more efficiency should consider that:
* PIT, its airline identification tag, offers four runways longer than 8,000 feet, as many as JFK, while LaGuardia, Newark and Philadelphia each has only two runways longer than 7,000 feet;
* PIT runways include two of the longest (11,500 feet and 10,500 feet) that are able to accommodate the biggest planes with the greatest margins of safety, and are comparable to JFK's runways of 14,570 feet and 11,350 feet;
* PIT is the nation's fourth largest airport in terms of land. Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson and Chicago's O'Hare, the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 busiest airports, together could fit inside the 12,900 acres occupied by Greater Pitt;
* PIT was built to accommodate 50 million passengers a year. It has never handled more than about 20 million a year;
* PIT has an in-ground pipeline fueling system while Philadelphia requires fuel to be trucked to planes, leading to gate congestion.
Understandably, airlines go where the customers are.
But you would think at least one airline would have enough savvy to craft a business plan that takes advantage of Pittsburgh International Airport.
Mary Peters: Are you listening?
Signs of the times. Another national issue involves a recent Federal Highway Administration decision to permit billboard companies to erect more of those giant digital displays along major roads heretofore protected under the Highway Beautification Act of 1978.
The ads change about every eight seconds. A least a dozen of them are now in place in our region, much to the chagrin of some motorists.
Kevin Fry, president of Scenic America, wonders if the government doesn't have enough safety problems without adding dangerous distractions to overcrowded, congested, high-speed highways.
"I have yet to get an explanation about how a digital billboard can simultaneously be safe for drivers and be an effective advertising medium. The Federal Highway Administration has ... told American motorists that their safety is secondary to the interests of giant media companies that dominate outdoor advertising."
Mary Peters: Are you listening?
CONSTRUCTION AROUND THE REGION
INTERSTATES
I-279, Franklin -- Single lane closures should be expected in the area of the I-79 interchange through 6 a.m. tomorrow as crews remove and replace the left lane of the deck on the I-79 bridge.
STATE HIGHWAYS
Business Route 22, Monroeville -- Closed to traffic in the area of the Northern Pike Bridge between Mall Boulevard and Northern Pike nightly from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning, as contractor crews install metal deck and overhang forms for concrete necessary to construct the new Northern Pike Bridge above Route 22. Local residents are encouraged to find alternate routes. Suggested detour is I-376 (Parkway East). Detours posted.
Route 28 -- Two lanes are open in each direction through the rock-slide zone. The current traffic pattern will remain until the highway is totally shifted away from the slide-prone cliff face next spring.
Southbound exit ramp at the Route 910 Harmar Interchange (Exit 11) in Harmar will be closed to traffic around-the-clock through 5 a.m. tomorrow for concrete patching. The southbound on-ramp will not be affected.
Bridge approach slab removal and replacement and expansion dam and joint work will continue beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday between the Creighton on-ramp and Pittsburgh Mills. Southbound traffic will be reduced to single lane around-the-clock in this area through Nov. 15.
OTHER ROADS
Penn Avenue and Stanwix Street, Downtown -- Starting tomorrow, closed until Nov. 16 for construction for the North Shore Connector, the extension of the light rail line to the North Side. Stanwix Street remains closed through November between Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Penn Avenue, Downtown, for tunnel-boring work. Detour posted.
Pittsburgh Street/Freeport Road, Cheswick, East Deer and Springdale -- Traffic will be reduced to a single lane in each direction (alternating use if necessary) from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily through late November. Flag crews and off-duty police will control traffic movements. Parking restrictions will also occur in the work areas.
Crews will pave and make repairs on the roadway from Lincoln Avenue in Springdale to the New Kensington Bridge in East Deer, and from Cheswick Avenue to North Duquesne Avenue in Cheswick.
Lovedale Road, Elizabeth Township -- Short-term lane closures will occur between Mill Hill Road and Fuehrer Road from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through Nov. 2. Flag crews will control traffic. The lane closure is necessary as geotechnical engineering crews collect core samples for a future bridge-replacement project.
McKnight Road/Evergreen Road -- A single-lane closure on southbound McKnight Road/Evergreen Road near the intersection with Gribble Road continues from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily through Friday to allow crews to improve curbing and sidewalks.
Whitehall Road, Baldwin Borough -- Closed to through traffic at the Streets Run Road intersection through the end of October for reconstruction. Access for all residents and businesses will be available. Detours posted.
Big Knob Road and Rochester Road, New Sewickley Township, Beaver County -- Improvements will restrict traffic to a single lane, alternating use, as needed daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through late October on Big Knob Road between Route 68 and Route 989, and Rochester Road between Route 989 and the Butler County line. Flag crews will control traffic.
Mount Nebo Road, Ohio Township -- Eastbound lanes closed at the I-79 overpass through mid-November for replacement of expansion dams and the existing bridge deck. Westbound traffic will not be affected. Detours posted.
P.J. McArdle Roadway, South Side -- Closed between South Ninth and Windom streets for repairs. Two lanes of traffic maintained from Arlington Avenue to Windom Street. All traffic detoured via Arlington Avenue and Carson Street.
Gulf Lab Road, Harmar -- The bridge that carries the road over the turnpike closed for two years for replacement. Detours posted.
Locust Street/Roosevelt Road, Emsworth, Ohio Township and Kilbuck -- Crews upgrading drainage and shoulders and milling and resurfacing 3.8 miles between Route 65/Ohio River Boulevard and Route 4022/Mount Nebo Road. Traffic reduced to a single lane, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., through October.
Boulevard of Allies, Oakland -- New "gateway interchange" project under way where the boulevard meets Forbes and Fifth avenues. Single right-lane closure on northbound Boulevard of the Allies through November.
MAJOR BRIDGES
Route 910/Gibsonia Road, Richland -- Deck replacement continues on the bridge that carries Route 910/Gibsonia Road over the west branch of Deer Creek between Route 8 and Community Center Drive, closing Route 910/Gibsonia Road through late November. Detours posted.
Birmingham Bridge, Downtown -- Traffic on the bridge will continue to use a single lane in each direction through Nov. 15 for concrete patching and barrier wall replacement.
Route 286/Saltsburg Road, Bell Township, Westmoreland County -- Bridge over Beaver Run Reservoir is closed through late November for repairs. Detours posted.
31st Street Bridge, Pittsburgh -- Opening in November.
