News provided by TheRecord.com (Waterloo Region Record) – link to full article – with a hint from P.N.
The region has budgeted $34.5 million for runway expansions
NEWS Jul 03, 2019 by Paige Desmond Waterloo Region Record
BRESLAU — The Region of Waterloo wants public feedback on the $34.5-million first stages of a potential airport expansion.
In June, regional government hosted its first public consultation centre to deliver information on expanding runways and upgrading other infrastructure at the Region of Waterloo International Airport.
“These kinds of meetings inform the public as to what the long term master plan for the airport looks like so it doesn’t catch them unaware,” said Regional Chair Karen Redman.
The region wants feedback as part of the design phase of improvements.
Proposed plans stem from the $375-million airport master plan politicians approved in 2017. It will guide growth at the airport for 20 years.
According to that plan, the region should be prepared to construct improvements prior to reaching passenger targets that trigger the upgrades. In total there are five phases to be triggered by passengers.
Coun. Sean Strickland isn’t convinced the region should be going ahead with the design work at all, especially after spending about $10 million on land acquisitions for the airport in 2018.
When the region approved the master plan it also committed to limiting the annual taxpayer contribution to $6 million.
“Our airport is a very valuable asset but has underperformed in terms of passenger traffic and cargo traffic pretty well since the region has taken over … If we’re going to spend more money on the airport then we need to have a return on investment,” he said.
In 2018, the airport drew 80,000 passengers.