What Is the Best Solution to San Diego’s Nagging Airport Problem? : New Concept: A regional ‘wayport,’ linked by high-speed rail line, is the way to go.

One of the biggest obstacles in San Diego’s airport planning process has been the narrow-minded approach to the selection of alternatives to Lindbergh Field. Choices have been made primarily on the basis of available space--that is, any area in San Diego with a few thousand undeveloped acres has been considered a prime candidate for study. As San Diego has grown, only two sites remain that fulfill this limited criterion: Miramar Naval Air Station and Otay Mesa.

Not surprisingly, Miramar and Otay Mesa are the only two alternatives seriously being considered in the latest Sandag study. However, neither of these sites is likely to provide a solution to San Diego’s airport needs. The Navy has vowed not to leave Miramar. The San Ysidro mountains to the east present a formidable barrier to development of Brown Field as a commercial airport. A joint U.S.-Mexico airport on the border is not a realistic option. It is also clear that Lindbergh Field cannot accommodate San Diego’s long-term airport needs.

Given these obvious limitations, it is time we broaden the scope of our search to include consideration of new and innovative airport technologies and sites that may not be in San Diego County.

Technologies being studied in other areas include the “wayport” concept and super-speed rail connections to airports in outlying areas. Both ideas involve locating a major regional airport in an unpopulated, undeveloped site.

The wayport proposal would connect the regional airport to outlying cities such as San Diego by way of commuter flights to and from smaller airports, such as Lindbergh, Montgomery or Palomar. The large regional airport would become a transportation hub, handling all transcontinental and intercontinental flights. The smaller airports would handle only short-haul flights to and from the wayport.

Wayports can be developed on inexpensive rural land or even at closed military bases at prices far less than in urban areas. Costs are further reduced by the need for fewer parking facilities, since fewer passengers would originate or terminate their flights at the wayport. Environmental and noise concerns on residential areas would also be reduced.

Because of these and numerous other advantages, the wayport concept is rapidly gaining support across the nation. Bills have been introduced in both houses of Congress to establish revolving loan funds for the development of wayports and a commission to propose areas suitable for the location of such wayports. If enacted, the bills would authorize a $1.5-billion annual appropriation to the Wayport Revolving Loan Fund for the next three years.

In addition, both San Diego and Imperial counties recently helped fund a study on the development of such an airport for San Diego at desert locations near the Salton Sea and Holtville.

Super-speed and magnetic levitation (maglev) rail systems connecting cities to regional airports or wayports are also being considered. Orange County is researching the possibility of connecting its urban areas by such means to a new regional airport at soon-to-be-closed George Air Force Base in Adelanto.

Congress is considering legislation to fund six maglev systems in the U.S., and several states have already begun the process of applying for these funds.

San Diego is not alone in its search to satisfy airport needs. Many Southern California cities also are seeking additional airport capacity. San Diego could participate in the development of a truly regional airport, which would serve most, if not all, of Southern California.

The City Council’s Public Facilities and Recreation Committee, which I chair, recently unanimously endorsed the immediate study of these new airport technologies. We also urged the immediate implementation of the port’s plan to upgrade Lindbergh’s capacity and safety--a plan that would cover our needs until about the year 2010. It is hoped that the full City Council will soon ratify these actions.

San Diego must step to the forefront of airport technology advances and develop a solution of which we can all be proud. We will soon be entering the 21st Century--and we need a 21st-Century solution to our air traffic needs.