Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch said that work on a proposed airport in west Oak Ridge could begin after 2023.
He spoke to Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce members about the airport, as well as other topics, on Monday, Jan. 5, and gave a report with a timetable and details to The Oak Ridger later that day.
He stated he expects the environmental assessment and some design work to be completed by spring of 2022. He said the final design will be complete a year later.
“Airfield construction could commence shortly after that,” according to the mayor's emailed report.
The city of Oak Ridge plans to put the airport near the former K-25 site. It took over the project from the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority (MKAA) last year with a unanimous vote from Oak Ridge City Council.
Proponents have listed various reasons for building an airport in Oak Ridge. Jeff Smith, a member of the MKAA board of commissioners and deputy director of operations for UT-Battelle LLC and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has said the airport will not be for “the traveling public as we know and the airline industry.” Instead, he said, the airport will allow business leaders to fly to and from Oak Ridge, putting it on the map for technology companies.
City Manager Mark Watson has also said the airport is a way to transport radioisotopes from Coquí RadioPharmaceuticals Corp., which has expressed interest in locating at the nearby Horizon Center.
The city of Oak Ridge is the sponsor of the proposed airport, but it’s relying on grants and gifts from various state and federal agencies to pay for various aspects of it as Gooch laid out in the report.
The mayor stated the city received two grants from the federal-state partnership Appalachian Regional Commission. A $3.2 million grant is for planning and design purposes while a $1 million grant will help construction efforts. While the grants require a 30% local match, that match will come from the state government rather than the city, paid for by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. These TDOT grants also require a “local match,” but Gooch’s document stated the city can count the acres of land themselves as this match. He stated the remainder of project funding will come from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Ben Pounds is a staff reporter for The Oak Ridger. Call him at (865) 441-2317 and follow him on Twitter @Bpoundsjournal.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Airport work may not start until 2023
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