OH: 2 New Major Regional Airports Proposed
May 31–A proposal to build two major airport hubs, located in Jeffersonville and near Ravenna, will be announced today by two local state legislators.
In an exclusive interview with the Dayton Daily News, State Rep. Jim Butler, R-Oakwood, said the two proposed airports would attract the kind of large airline hubs that places like Dallas-Fort Worth, Boston and Atlanta now have. He said a railroad system would allow people to catch a train from the state’s seven major cities to the airports — which he said are within one hour 0f everyone in the regions they would serve.
Butler estimates the cost at $10 billion to $15 billion to construct the airports and railroad system and it would be paid for with airport bonds and possibly federal funds.
Each airport would only be built if one of the country’s major airlines commits to put a hub there, said Butler.
Butler said the state has trouble attracting corporate headquarters because it doesn’t have enough major airline hubs that will take passengers on direct flights to national and international destinations.
“Our current situation makes us uncompetitive and it doesn’t have to be that way,” said Butler, who with co-sponsor State Rep. Paul Zeltwanger, R-Mason, will introduce a bill beginning the process of building new airports.
Butler believes the two hubs will not kill the airports now existing in cities like Dayton and Columbus, in Kentucky south of Cincinnati, and Ohio’s other large cities. Rather, said Butler, smaller airlines will continue to fly out of those cities.
He pointed to Dallas-Fort Worth in Texas and Washington D.C. as examples of where more than one airport can thrive.
The proposal he and Zeltwanger will introduce will set up a council, which will hire an executive director to begin the planning process. Each of the major cities would have a representative on the council that would run the airports, he said.
One would be located at the intersection of Interstate 71 and U.S. 35 near Jeffersonville and the other off Interstate 80 north of Ravenna. He said there is flat, dry available land in both places and the airports would be close enough for about 3.5 million people to get there in an hour.
Butler said he understands the proposal is likely to face stiff opposition from the cities where the state’s biggest airports are now located.
“This is one of those issues where changing the status quo is so difficult,” Butler said. “I definitely expect there to be naysayers out there that don’t want things to change.
He said he feels the hubs are what is right for the people of Ohio.
“It is my duty to represent the people and not to represent special interests,” Butler said.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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