A public hearing is set Aug. 8 on the environmental assessment for an Oak Ridge City airport on land conveyed to the locality by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee.
The hearing under the National Environmental Policy Act is scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern Time at the DoubleTree Hotel located at 215 S Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, according to the public notice.
The long-planned general aviation airfield, would include a 5,000-foot-long runway, partial parallel taxiway, and associated landside facilities. The Oak Ridge Airport will be located at the East Tennessee Technology Park’s Heritage Center, on the site of the former Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, formerly known as K-25, and parallel to Oak Ridge Turnpike, which is U.S. Highway 58, according to a fact sheet.
The roughly $30-million project is funded mostly through grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Tennessee Aeronautics Economic Development Fund and in-kind contributions from DOE and the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, according to the fact sheet. The Federal Aviation Administration is processing the paperwork and operation of the airport is targeted for 2025.
“The primary purpose of the proposed airport is to alleviate the unmet need for general aviation air service in the Oak Ridge, Tennessee area and provide a safe and efficient operating environment,” according to the airport master plan. The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority “has noted a growing demand for business/corporate, air taxi, and private air travel, throughout the northwestern portion of the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area.” Oak Ridge is roughly 30 miles from Knoxville.
The airport’s master plan predicts approximately 11,600 operations at the Oak Ridge Airport in its first year, rising to 14,200 by year five, according to a July 2020 cost-benefit analysis. The operation numbers include numerous weekly deliveries of isotopes to Oak Ridge, according to the report.
