Airport seeks funds for new tower

Thursday, June 21, 2001 | 10:31 a.m.

McCarran International Airport is trying to land $5 million for a new airport control tower.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Wednesday that she has included money for the airport control tower and $1 million for improvements to the North Las Vegas Airport in bills that have passed the House Appropriations Committee.

The money targets problems associated with "runway incursions" at the Southern Nevada airports -- essentially, planes, ground vehicles or people in the wrong place at the wrong time, potentially causing collisions.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which runs air and ground control at airports nationwide, has been working to control the problem. The North Las Vegas Airport last year had the worst rate of runway incursions nationally -- recording 17 incidents.

McCarran recorded two incidents last year. None of the local runway incursions resulted in an accident.

But local Clark County Department of Aviation and FAA officials have worked to improve the safety record at the North Las Vegas Airport, which has had two runway incursions so far this year.

Work has included making it easier for pilots to see directional information on the ground and training them on the idiosyncrasies of flying into and out of the small airport.

In July 2002, McCarran is slated to get a new FAA computer system that combines air and ground radar to warn when a potential collision appears.

Michael O'Donovan, Berkley spokesman, said the funding should help control the problem even more. Included in the money would be about $1 million to improve guidance and signaling equipment at the North Las Vegas Airport.

The new tower proposed for McCarran also would affect safety both regionally and on McCarran's own runways.

The tower would be taller than the existing one, eliminating a "blind spot" on the ground. The new tower also would have more room for controllers, which will probably be needed as aircraft and passenger traffic continues to rise at McCarran, already one of the world's busiest airports.

The larger tower also would house bigger, better radar. Improvements at the tower wouldn't only benefit McCarran, but aircraft traveling through, to or from a 3,000-square-mile area surrounding the Las Vegas Valley.

"It's good news," said Randy Walker, Aviation Department director.

He said a new McCarran tower has been on the FAA's regional "wish list" of capital improvement projects for several years. Now it is a step closer to reality.

The $5 million would fund a design and siting study, Walker said. The overall cost for a new tower would come to about $12 million, he estimated.

Funding for the FAA project would have to come from federal sources, he said.

Walker said Berkley and other members of Nevada's congressional delegation understand the growth pressures on the airport, which handled almost 37 million passengers last year.

The appropriation package must pass muster on the floor of the House and be reconciled with funding proposals from the Senate, then go to the White House for a final approval.

O'Donovan said he has a "high degree of confidence" that the transportation funding will make it through the process. The most difficult step in the process is usually the initial committee work, he said.