Proposed runway changes at Kawartha Lakes Municipal Airport
The City of Kawartha Lakes is sharing details about a proposed runway change at the Kawartha Lakes Municipal Airport and inviting residents to learn more at an upcoming public information session.
The session will take place on Tuesday March 24 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Kawartha Lakes Municpal Airport (3187 Highway 35 North, Lindsay).
The project would replace the current grass runway with a new 740-metre paved runway in a different location and direction. This includes preparing the land, grading, installing drainage (culverts), and paving the surface with asphalt. The goal of this project is to respond to significant residential growth in the area and improve how the airport operates.
If approved, the project would:
- Move flight paths away from homes. Aircraft would take off and land farther from more than 2,800 planned homes in the Lindsay Heights development area.
- Improve safety. Replacing the current grass runway with a paved surface would provide more consistent and reliable landing conditions.
- Help reduce noise. Adjusting the runway direction would guide aircraft along a path that is farther from residential neighbourhoods.
This information is not clear about some important facts. The runway to be paved is the secondary runway, NOT the main runway, which according to airport staff is the one used by 90% of flights. Paving the grass runway and changing its orientation by 20 degrees or so, won’t much change the volume of landings and take-offs from the main runway ((this according to airport staff and the City’s Director of Engineering); it won’t mean reductions in the noise created as those planes pass over the Lindsay neighbourhoods that are on their established flight-paths.
The airport does provide some vital services (Orange Air is a prime example). But much use is for recreational flying that pollutes the atmosphere and contributes little to our City’s quality of life. And, it should be noted that even though the airport does an efficient job of paying for its operations, $3,000,000 from our taxes will be paying for the project.