The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is seeking public comment on the Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) for the Las Vegas Metroplex Project, which proposes to use cutting-edge satellite navigation to move air traffic more efficiently through Southern Nevada.
While the airspace around Las Vegas is already safe, it’s not as efficient as it could be. The FAA proposes to address the inefficiencies (PDF) by implementing new routes that are more direct, automatically separated from each other, and have efficient climb and descent profiles. The potential benefits of these routes can include reductions in pilot-controller communications, miles flown, fuel burn and CO2 emissions.
The project includes new and replacement arrival and departure routes for McCarran International Airport, Henderson Executive Airport and North Las Vegas Airport.
The FAA released the project’s Draft EA on Nov.18 for public review. There will be a 32-day public comment period on the document from Nov.18 through Dec. 20, 2019.
The document is posted on the Las Vegas Metroplex website. The Draft EA indicates the project would not have any significant environmental impacts under federal environmental law.
Also available on the website are Google Earth images that allow people to compare current and proposed routes, and see the noise analysis the FAA conducted at more than 172,000 grid points throughout the project General Study Area.
The FAA will host five public workshops for the Draft EA between Monday, Dec. 9 and Friday, Dec. 13, 2019. The workshops will feature informational videos and display boards that show existing and proposed routes and explain the inefficiencies in the current system. FAA representatives will be available to answer questions and demonstrate the Google Earth features.
The workshops will be open-house format, where people can attend any time during the posted times to learn about the project. Free parking will be available at all locations.
The workshop dates and locations are as follows:
Dec. 9, 2019 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Clark County Government Center – Pueblo Room 500 S. Grand Central Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV 89155
Dec. 10, 2019 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. North Las Vegas Airport Grand Canyon Conference Room 2730 Airport Drive, North Las Vegas, NV 89032
Dec. 11, 2019 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Desert Breeze Community Center – Meeting Room 8275 Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, NV 89147
Dec. 12, 2019 4:45 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. Windmill Library – Meeting Room 7060 Windmill Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89113
Dec. 13, 2019 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Henderson Executive Airport North/South Meeting Room 3500 Executive Terminal Drive, Henderson, NV 89052
People can submit comments on the project online at 9-las-metroplex-ea@faa.gov, in person at the public workshops, and by writing to:
Las Vegas Metroplex Draft EA Federal Aviation Administration Western Service Center–Operations Support Group 2200 S. 216th Street Des Moines, WA 98198-6547
After evaluating and responding to all substantive public comments, the FAA could adopt the entire proposal, adopt portions of it, or modify it.
Additional information about the project, including previous public outreach activities, is available on the FAA’s Las Vegas Community Involvement website.
