East Haven Residents Continue to Oppose Tweed Airport Expansion

East Haven residents continue to vehemently oppose runway expansion at Tweed airport.

Close to 100 residents attended the second meeting that was held at Nathan Hale High School, according to the New Haven Register.

Homeowners continue to be outraged over the possibility of the airport expanding its runways, according to NBC CT. Residents accused the council of dishonesty after they had promised to never expand the runways back in 2009.

The Register reported residents interrupting officials and other fellow residents in protest of the runway expansions throughout the meeting.

Engineers as well as transportation and public health experts attended the meeting to portray the benefits of the airport’s expansion to East Haven residents who oppose the expansion, according to NBC CT. The extension would allow for commercial flights to fly to Chicago, Washington D.C. and Orlando.

The runway expansion, if it happens, would increase the number of commercial flights from four to 12 a day, NBC CT reported. Residents are concerned that with the amount of flights increasing, the noise, air pollution and traffic will affect neighboring areas, which would affect residents’ everyday lives.

Officials claim that the airport expansion would offer an additional 340 jobs and an increase in economic output from $55 million to $87 million if the airport successfully expands it’s services by 2017, the Register reported.

Even though residents have expressed their concerns and objections, the council remains confident that the plan to expand the airport would benefit the community, NBCT reported.

East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. made a statement regarding the Tweed expansion Wednesday afternoon that said he would continue to oppose the plan until residents’ questions are answered satisfactorily.

Read the full New Haven Register story here.

Read the full NBC CT story here.