The proposed expansion of Oakland International Airport took a step closer to reality Thursday when the city’s Board of Port Commissioners voted to approve a key environmental study of the project.
The board voted 6-0, with one commissioner absent, to approve the final environmental impact report, which port staff started working on in May 2021 and which is intended to find ways to mitigate possible environmental damage from the project and respond to issues raised during the public comment period.
While the vote was a milestone, it didn’t approve the actual project itself, just the state-mandated environmental study. The “OAK Terminal Modernization and Development Project,” as it’s called, still needs to go through a federal environmental review process, which may take up to two years, according to port officials, and will require additional board approvals.
Project elements include upgrades to the two existing terminals and construction of a new 830,000-square-foot terminal; consolidation of passenger processing functions like ticketing, baggage check-in, baggage claim and security screening; expansion of international arrival facilities; relocation of existing cargo and support facilities and improvements to the airport’s roads and parking areas.
The project doesn’t include new runways or expanded runway capacity.
Port officials say the upgrades and expansion are necessary to accommodate a projected increase of airline passengers from roughly 11 million in 2023 to 24.7 million by 2038.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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