Hanscom air traffic debate spreads
Towns beyond airport's neighbors add to opposition voice

By Kerry Drohan, Globe Staff, 9/30/2001

BEDFORD - Michael Squillante opposes growth at Hanscom Field because he
thinks it's too noisy, generates too much ground traffic, and threatens the
quality of life.

Those opinions are not unusual for residents of the four towns that border
the airport: Lincoln, Concord, Bedford, and Lexington. But Squillante lives
in Waltham, about 3 miles from the airport. He's also a City Council member,
representing about 6,600 people in Ward 3.

Since Shuttle America Flight 201 took off for Trenton, N.J., on Sept. 30,
1999, Hanscom has become a spreading development issue in the region.
Waltham has joined Acton, Carlisle, Wayland, and Woburn, plus the four towns
contiguous to the airport, in endorsing ''Hanscom at the Crossroads,'' a
document that calls for a moratorium on commercial service.

''The issues with Hanscom go back even before the latest round of commercial
aviation,'' Squillante said. ''In the mid-'90s it became clear to me and
other people that air traffic increased significantly. Now I am getting a
lot of calls from constituents complaining about plane noise over their
houses, mostly from people along Trapelo Road.

''The Hanscom issue is not our top priority, but it's an issue of concern
that councilors want to be more involved in,'' he said. ''Our involvement
expands the area of concern of people beyond the four towns, so it becomes a
regional issue.''

Among the signs of spreading debate, the Hanscom issue now dominates
politics in the four neighboring towns. Officers of the grassroots group
ShhAir (Save Our Irreplaceable Hanscom Area Resources) report an increase in
membership from 1,200 households to 1,541 in two years.

''We are in a very different place than we were a couple of years ago,''
said Peter Enrich, a Lexington selectman who is among the leading critics of
Hanscom growth. ''There is a much more concerted sense of what the long-term
future of Hanscom should be and how we might get there. We have a much
closer connection to legislators, a shared sense of direction with the
communities around Logan, and support from other communities.''

Massport, which owns Hanscom, says the airport is a vital part of its
''regionalization'' plan, which calls for diverting some niche commercial
service from Logan to Hanscom and airports in Manchester, N.H., Providence,
and Worcester. Increasing commercial air service is opposed by a loose
coalition of the towns, Minute Man National Historical Park, and historic
preservation groups, who say development would degrade nearby natural and
historic resources, including the park, Walden Pond, and the Great Meadows
Wildlife Preserve.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have complicated the debate, placing Massport
under scrutiny for apparent security lapses at Logan Airport and raising
uncertainty about the future of commercial travel everywhere. That hangs
over the discussion as people follow advice to return to their normal lives.
Around here, ''normal'' means acerbic debate about the future of Hanscom.

Massport is sticking to its plans for Hanscom, according to spokesman
Richard Walsh.

''We have an airport to run, and we will continue to do our jobs,'' he said.
''The regulations that allow niche commercial service have been around since
1980. Massport didn't have to change the rules; Shuttle America responded to
a strong demand for their service.'' Walsh also pointed out that there were
many more flights a decade ago, when Hanscom Air Force Base was more active.

Squillante, whose ward extends along the north side of Waltham, said there
are issues beyond commercial air traffic. Hanscom is the state's busiest
general aviation airport, with about 212,000 operations last year, and there
are reports that Federal Express is considering service there.

''That scares me the most,'' Squillante said. ''Federal Express flying in
and out 24 hours a day, plus how many truckloads go to each airplane? They
have their own terminal at Logan. At Hanscom, whatever number of trucks are
running 24/7, a significant number will be coming down Trapelo Road. That's
just intolerable.''

Ground traffic that serves commercial air is the main concern of Nancy
Nelson, superintendent of the national park. She said she believes
increasing auto traffic will affect Battle Road, where colonists first
fought the British on April 19, 1775. The two-lane road, owned by the park,
intertwines with Route 2A and is dotted with historic sites. It is also the
primary access road to the airport.

Nelson said the Hanscom-Minute Man National Historical Park Working Group
has improved understanding among the federal agencies that formed it in
February, including the Interior Department, Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation, and the Federal Aviation Administration. She also said the
perspective of time is helping.

''The last two years have given us a better picture of the potential, or
lack of potential, for expansion at Hanscom,'' Nelson said. ''That is
evidenced by the interest of several airlines that ultimately didn't come to
fruition. As we have always felt, this is a bad place to grow a big
airport.''

As evidence of the passion to prevent more commercial growth at Hanscom,
activists cited a meeting of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission in
Bedford last June, at which proposals for service at Hanscom were to be made
by Boston Maine Airways, USAir, and Midway Airlines. More than 400 people,
some using bullhorns, shouted down the airline reps. The meeting was
cancelled. USAir later withdrew its proposal, citing community opposition.
The Boston Maine proposal is pending. Midway went out of business Sept. 13.

Such opposition has not deterred Shuttle America. The regional carrier
started at four flights daily, rose to a peak of 18 in February when it got
14 coveted landing slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport, and now has seven.
The airline declared bankruptcy in April, but announced a bailout deal with
Wexford Capital LLC of Greenwich, Conn., three weeks ago. The carrier plans
to recommence the LaGuardia flights this fall, said Mark Cestari, vice
president of marketing.

''Our bookings are holding up very well, and now people are definitely
looking for alternatives to Logan,'' Cestari said. ''Everyone in the airline
industry is concerned about financial help, layoffs, and the
across-the-board contraction in travel, but we are better-positioned than
the big carriers. These days, there is a sense that smaller is better.''

Cestari said the airline has flown 500,000 passengers in and out of Hanscom
in the last two years, despite the opposition. He emphasized that commercial
flights are restricted to 60-seat propeller planes, and that they are quiet
compared to the private corporate jets that use Hanscom.

''My biggest disappointment in the last two years has been the knee-jerk
reaction of the local elected officials,'' Cestari said. ''We really do
respect the passionate feelings that some of the activists have, but that
has been disheartening in the face of hundreds of thousands of customers
that elected officials refuse to acknowledge, or acknowledge any balance to
this suggestion that commercial service can exist.''

On the other side, Enrich is equally adamant.

''I can see a future in which once again the attempt to bring in commercial
service at Hanscom fails and we get back to the endless negotiating over
appropriate levels of general aviation,'' Enrich said. ''On the other hand,
neighbors are aware that there's always a risk of major development -
passenger service or freight, or a dramatic expansion of corporate
shuttle-type services. There is no way to foreclose that other than constant
political action and vigilance.''

This story ran on page W1 of the Boston Globe on 9/30/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.
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