Extending Forth Worth Runway Hits a Snag

Feb. 8 -- FORT WORTH -- A $132 million project to extend the runways at Alliance Airport has been put on hold while two cities, the airport and a railroad work out a dispute over where and how to reroute a highway and a rail line.

Officials at Alliance, which is owned by Fort Worth and operated by Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood Corp., have been trying to extend the runway to 11,000 feet since 1991. The airport specializes in cargo flights, and the extension would make it possible for fully loaded jets to fly nonstop to Europe and Asia.

The Haslet City Council put the brakes on the plan last week, however, voting to rescind its support for the relocation of Farm Road 156, which is crucial to the runway extension.

Without Haslet's consent, the Texas Department of Transportation won't pay for the new road, despite the fact that Fort Worth and the Federal Aviation Administration have already spent millions of dollars for right of way and have begun moving utility lines, officials said.

Haslet Mayor Gary Hulsey said he and other council members were not informed about crucial changes to the plan, which would make it harder for the small city of 1,500 to fix some of its traffic problems. Haslet is adjacent to the airport.

"We had to rescind our support until this is resolved," Hulsey said.

The original plan called for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway line, which runs along Farm Road 156, to be moved west to run through the company's rail yard. An east-west railroad spur was to be built connecting the main yard to a depot used to unload automobiles.

That would have allowed BNSF to abandon a stretch of track that runs through downtown Haslet, which would have solved congestion problems in the rapidly growing area.

At the end of 2005, though, BNSF asked for a change. The railroad wanted to move the main line farther west, and asked the city and the FAA to pay for double tracks from Texas 114 to U.S. 287.

The new proposal leaves out the spur and would keep the line running through Haslet. The double-track option also would cost $13 million more than the original $50 million set aside for the rail relocation, said Tim Ward, president of Alliance Air Services, a Hillwood subsidiary.

A BNSF spokesman declined Wednesday to comment directly about Haslet's objections but said the railroad is working with both cities and with Hillwood to find a good alternative.

Spokesman Joe Faust said that since the plan was worked out in 1991, Burlington Northern has merged with Santa Fe and the use of modular shipping containers has increased. The BNSF yard at Alliance now handles about 700,000 container "lifts" annually, Faust said.

"That's why we're having these discussions," Faust said. "The railroad has changed substantially."

In addition, Amtrak trains run on the BNSF line, and the rail company can't handle them through the rail yard, Ward said.

Alliance and Fort Worth agreed to the new plan, although all the parties "still have to agree on who pays for what," he said.

Because BNSF no longer wanted the spur, Alliance and Fort Worth officials scrapped a plan to build a bridge for it on Farm Road 156.

That makes it unlikely that the tracks will ever be moved out of Haslet. Not only do the tracks there impede intersection improvements, but they also carry long, slow-moving trains through the middle of town.

"Yesterday I got a call from the city; there was one parked and blocking that intersection for over 30 minutes to unload vehicles," Hulsey said.

Meanwhile, the Fort Worth City Council on Tuesday approved spending $10.7 million from FAA grants to design the new Farm Road 156.

Ward and City Aviation Director Mike Feeley said they are optimistic that the dispute can be settled. The city and FAA have already spent $49 million on the project, and contractors have moved 2.4 million cubic yards of dirt for the runway extension.

All the parties are scheduled to meet early next week.