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The following appeared the same day as above article - in the ProJo. Sen. Reed seems to be backpedaling on the potential for the runway extension in his answer to a question from a Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce breakfast attendee:
"In response to an audience question about T.F. Green Airport, Reed said leaders had to look beyond projects such as extending the Green's main runway, a project already underway and expected to finish in 2017, to find ways to make Rhode Island's main airport more competitive. As an example, with the longer runway, which allows planes to take off laden with more fuel to reach farther destinations, Green could become a gateway to America for European travelers if Amtrak added stops at the airport train station. "We have to not sit back and say, 'They'll come.' We have to go out and get them," Reed said."
The original vision for the rail connection was a $20 million train station at Green with Amtrak access. That never happened and now Senator Reed seems to be setting up the argument that Amtrak's refusal to service the airport will cause problems for the runway extension. That really is a lot of BS considering that Boston's Logan, JFK and Newark all have passenger rail access. Why would a European traveler pick Green with a three hour trip to NYC over JFK with a direct rail connection? Duh.
I have a concern with Kelly Frederick's estimate in the Beacon piece above that "more than $62 million will be spent on projects this summer." RIAC has not made arrangements to borrow any money for this project and will apparently be relying on federal grants to make it happen. But, where is the grant money? The plan last December was to float a bond to cover this need. But the RIAC board has yet to review that need and time is clearly running out.
Is that why Senator Reed is now talking about Amtrak as an important factor to Green's upcoming "home run" when the runway extension gets built. Or will he be saying "We can't get Amtrak - so let's forget about the runway extension?"
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