This is in response to Dave Beall's comments in the Times-Union article on 11/10 regarding the Warsaw Airport expansion.
You say, "I have heard concerns we are cutting people off by closing 100E, but that is not the case." I can assure you, Mr. Beall, that that is precisely what you would be doing. As a resident of the northeast part of the county, I travel to Warsaw regularly for doctor appointments, shopping and many other reasons. CR 100E is the most direct route to many of these locations.
I'm sure if a traffic count was done you would find that it is the preferred route for thousands of people a day. This road closure would force me and those thousands of others to drive miles out of the way to get to our destinations. With gas consumption and prices a huge concern in today's economy, those extra miles times thousands is unthinkable. As Mr. Carter indicated in his letter to the editor, 11/9, there has been a large amount of growth in housing and businesses attached to this road and he comments that this proposal does not seem to have the general public's best interest at heart.
From your comments, Mr. Beall, it is clear that you aren't even prepared to consider the general interest of these thousands, in fact, your words almost sound as if this is a done deal. You state, "I do understand people will have to alter their traffic habits and that is an inconvenience and we are sorry this has to occur, but we don't have any other option to lengthen the runway." However, you do have a very viable option. Build an underpass for the thousands who use this road daily to get to their destinations quicker and cheaper.
And if you can't do that, I have another suggestion. Move the airport. I do understand you and the big corporations will have to alter your traffic habits and that is an inconvenience and we are sorry this has to occur, but since it seems we are in the majority, this is your only option.
As this situation plays out it will be interesting to see if the Powerful 6 will trump the thousands. If it does and this proposal goes through then I can only assume that the public meetings are for show only, and the general public's wants are nothing when up against big corporations.
