Imperial County Eyed as Future Airport Site : Transportation: San Diego supervisors agree to help fund study examining placement of ‘wayport’ near Salton Sea or near Holtville.

San Diego County supervisors voted Tuesday to help finance a study to explore the feasibility of building an international airport in Imperial County to meet the region’s future air transportation needs.

Imperial County officials, who agreed previously to participate in such a study, will be responsible for hiring a consultant to evaluate two possible sites in that county: Holtville Airport, east of El Centro, and a 4,000-acre, undeveloped area west of the Salton Sea.

The cost of the study--$50,000 to $80,000--will be split equally between the two counties.

San Diego supervisors approved the measure, 4-0, with Board Chairman Leon Williams abstaining. Williams said that the distance between San Diego and the proposed sites--100 miles--makes the Imperial County airport proposal questionable.

Williams also expressed concern that the study could divert the county’s attention from attempts to secure Miramar Naval Air Station as the site for a new international airport.

“That’s where my head is focused and I don’t want this to (distract) us from our approach,” Williams said.

The other supervisors, however, insisted that the Imperial County study is not intended to seek an alternative to Miramar but instead is intended to help in the preparation of a long-rage solution to the region’s air travel demands.

“This is a plan looking at the distant future,” said David Janssen, the county’s chief administrative officer. “This is not meant to address the immediate problems at Lindbergh Field.”

One of the study’s aims is to consider the feasibility of building a “wayport”--a major airport complex in a rural, undeveloped area, away from major population centers. The success of such a project hinges on the development of high-speed land transportation--most likely rail--to shuttle passengers from metropolitan areas to the distant airport, according to county Public Works Director Granville Bowman, who oversees eight county-owned airports.

“The first priority of this study is to look at the concept of siting a major airport so far away from the major cities,” Bowman said.

“The second question becomes, if we were to do this, where are the potential sites?”

Theoretically, the creation of a wayport would reduce the strain on local airports by handling the region’s intercontinental flights. The wayport would serve as an “international flight hub,” with the region’s local airports handling only domestic flights.

“If you were going to Paris you would take the rail to the wayport,” Janssen said. “If you were traveling to Washington, D.C., you would go to Lindbergh.”

The idea of the two counties exploring airport solutions together developed out of discussions at a first-ever joint meeting held last year between the two boards of supervisors.

Supervisor John MacDonald, who along with Supervisor Susan Golding drafted the proposal, said the county must do more than just solve the immediate overcrowding problems at Lindbergh Field.

“The airport situation right now at Lindbergh is inadequate,” Golding said. “And even if we do get Miramar, it may be good for 10, 20 years . . . that’s about it. I’m not interested in lining the pockets of consultants but we have to start looking at different alternatives.”

The county is trying to negotiate with the Navy to determine a way to use Miramar for both commercial and military aviation purposes. But the Navy has said that sharing the facility is unfeasible because of the dangers posed by mixing military and commercial aircraft operations. The Navy has repeatedly said it has no intention of relocating.

Regional Airport Study San Diego and Imperial counties are jointly financing an airport study, exploring the feasibility of building an international airport in Imperial County that would serve the region’s future air transportation needs. An independent consultant will study two sites: 1: 4,000 acres of undeveloped land west of the Salton Sea. 2: Holtville Airport, east of the city of El Centro. SOURCE: Department of Public Works, County of San Diego.