A couple times a week I drive down Barranca Road in Irvine right past what from 1942 to 1999 was Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. 4,682 acres of Eastern Orange County land located right near the I-5/405 interchange. Today it's basically a ghost town.
When word came that El Toro was to be shut down an effort was made to convert the airfield into a new regional airport. The field had two 10,000 foot runways and two 8,000 foot runways, plus lots of land that would have been perfect as a replacement for John Wayne Airport, which has only one 5,280 foot runway and a small general aviation runway. Because of runway length concerns as well as noise abatement procedures, John Wayne is not the safest place to fly out of of. The runway limits the type of aircraft that can land there, and the noise abatement procedure requires aircraft to throttle back at 1,000 feet, a point where the aircraft is very vulnerable should there be an engine problem. The facilities at John Wayne are rather cramped and capacity is limited. An airport at El Toro was clearly the best use of that land and facility.
However, the anti-airport forces managed to kill the deal in favor of what is now known as "The Great Park", which I've nicknamed "The Great Nothing", because most of the 4,682 acres is just that...nothing.
Oh, we have a tethered orange balloon ride, a concert venue, some RV parking, and a building or two for large parties, but otherwise it's useless. As I drive by that ghost town I can't help but wonder what it would be like in Orange County today had the airport been developed.
By now the airport would have been fully functioning with thousands of employees directly or indirectly working at the airport. Housing demand (and pricing) would not have collapsed to the extent it has, and businesses would have had more reason to move to the area with an airport capable of passenger and cargo operations right next to major highways. The economy of Orange County would be light years ahead of where it is now, and the recession ravaging the area would not have been as dramatic. Airports are economic engines.
But instead we have a balloon ride.
The Great Park decision was easily the most shortsighted decision by voters in Orange County history. When you add that to the Toll Road to Nowhere, which would have also been an access route to this airport, you got some really dumb decisions made in the name of environmentalism. It's costing all of us dearly.
But at least we have that big orange balloon. Oh, and my neighbor has a place to park his RV and his boat.
When we used to hear noise from fighter jets or other aircraft at El Toro we called it the "sound of freedom". Jet noise today from a thriving international airport would be the sound of economic freedom, a sound that may never again be heard in Orange County.
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1 comment:
But weren't they going to have to reorient those runways at a huge cost, or else the jets would have to clear some mountain peak that might be treacherous for a fully loaded 747?
Just asking.
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