Dave wrote on Jan 5, 2006 10:39 PM:If Imperial County needs an airport, build one. San Diego needs its own.

Y? wrote on Jan 6, 2006 3:40 AM:Imperial County is too far away for a major airport. We already have a major airport in LAX, which is closer than Imperial County for North County residents. I am not a tech guru, but I would have to learn a lot more about MAGLEV before I would be convinced that it would be a good fit.

Y? wrote on Jan 6, 2006 4:33 AM:Why no international airport in Imperial County? 117 degrees in the summer desert sun!

Jeramie wrote on Jan 6, 2006 8:53 AM:With L.A. out of capacity to handle any more traffic, and room for a new airport in San Diego hard to come by, it seems that a 25 minute ride to Imperial County might be just the ticket. With 117 degrees in the summer sun, we could really make out well with a properly designed, solar-powered structure. I do, however, question the costs, both environmental and monetary, to pave the way for a maglev train and shuttle the masses to and from.

Commen Sense wrote on Jan 6, 2006 11:47 AM:I agree, if Imperial needs an airport, they can build their own. Imperial county is not even part of San Diego. But more than that, Miramar airfield already has the freeway, electric power, water and sewage infrastructure in place. With relatively minor modifications, this location is a no brainer. Besides the minimal military use there, these days, the central location is also appealing to North County people; which by the way, they are part of San Diego County, and are a major population to consider here. Let's use some commen sense and minimize costs with the already existing infrastructure at Miramar and its central county location.

wisnieski wrote on Jan 6, 2006 7:01 PM:In the 1800 L.A. was too far away from New York to have commerce between the two places. A rail was believed impossable and water was in short supply. Think about it-what happend?

Peter wrote on Jan 6, 2006 7:40 PM:I used one of those satellite imaging sites to look at the potential airport locations. Miramar looked like it had the best potential. I'm still unclear about what the military thinks about using their bases and how big of a hassle it would be for them. I guess it would mean no Miramar Air Show too. I read somewhere that the maglev train and other infrastructure improvements would cost around $10 billion for the imperial site.

Wally wrote on Jan 6, 2006 10:58 PM:According to my calculations it will take 12,500 times more money than Filner has gotten to build the MAGLEV system. Then, who pays to operate it and what would the fare be to get to the airport? The fare to the airport might be on par with a discounted fare on Southwest to Oakland.

Rodney wrote on Jan 7, 2006 12:36 PM:Consequently, it would be absurd to believe in a time of fiscal constraint by all levels of government, locally and on the state and federal level that we can spend unknown billions to build an international airport to be located as far away as Imperial County. If built a new airport would become a severe environmental impact on a largely agricultural region, causing shortages of scarce supplies of water and electricity and would become a major source of pollution that would have to be addressed in a serious way. It would be better for the county and city governments to begin planning for the modernization and upgrade existing facilities at Lindbergh Field. The site needs to have built expanded terminal capacity and a multi-modal transportation center that would link the airport to its surrounding communities using Trolleys, buses, and the proposed maglev high-speed trains that could connect San Diego’s and Los Angeles regional airports into a much needed intergraded transportation system. Looking to technology is the best answer to solving our growing transportation concerns; not building an airport that would benefit only a few special interests in Imperial Valley. The maglev high-speed train would be five times faster, 50 percent less expensive to operate and would be far quieter and use less energy then other forms of transportation being used today. This vision is being put forth today by Mr. Sandor Shapery with his California Regional Maglev Project – San Diego/L.A which can be seen at www.sdlamaglev.org. In the interim, San Diego needs to continue to expand its investment in the San Diego Light Rail system and move ahead with the 11-mile extension of the Mid-Coast Trolley system that would extend from the Old Town Transit Center north to UCSD and University Town Center in La Jolla, CA. We urgently need to begin the process of developing joint mayoral/congressional/private-sector partnerships that will allow San Diego to transform its transportation infrastructure for the needs of the community for the 21st century. Smart transportation planning for the region will consist of better utilizing our current transportation systems including our regional airports to allow airlines to operate with greater latitude in balancing their flight schedules and provide much needed air-traffic management to their fleets. This could be accomplished; by allowing the seamless use our airports, trolleys, buses and proposed maglev high-speed trains that would compliment and enhance people’s options when they travel; which would allow us to better weather the quantum leaps in gas and oil prices that may be on the horizon.

Bob wrote on Jan 18, 2006 8:23 PM:it is my understanding that the tax payers would not only have to pick up the tab for highway improvements, but If the airport were to be located in either the Campo/Boulevard or the Desert site in El Centro they would also be tagged with the tremendous cost of an entirely new infrastructure to support such a large project. Further it would necessitate the widening of I-8 that could double the number of existing traffic lanes, the need for a high speed transportation system from either the Imperial Valley or Campo/Boulevard sites to carry passengers to and from downtown San Diego that is now being studied through an $800,000.00 appropriations fund. This Magnetic-Levitation rail system will set taxpayers back approximately $142,000,000.00 a mile at today's dollars. In the case of Campo/Boulevard, this area is totally groundwater dependent and likely would not even began to satisfy the water needs for a operation of this magnitude. This could possibly require many miles of pipeline to import water to the site as well as many miles of pipeline to provide jet fuel to the large fleets of airliners. In my opinion, the taxpayer would carry a very large burden for many years to come, but even more devastating is the threat to the entire ecosystem and environmental future of the eastern portion of San Diego County. The backcountry would be at great risk.

Voice of Reason wrote on Mar 8, 2006 6:49 PM:Rodney... Excellent point, except on thing. A single runway can support about 60 gates. I'm 37. When I was 7 there were 18 gates, at age 17 there were 31, at age 27 there were 45. By the time I'm 40 there will be 55. My calculation says that by the time I'm 47 SAN will be built out. Then what? Wipe out neighborhoods? How will we get to it? Have you seen the traffic in and out of there. It'll be like Christmas every day in a few very short years. I love Christmas... not this kind of Christmas.

Franco wrote on May 24, 2006 1:45 AM:The miltary sites aren't even an option, and I don't want to hear we the people should dictate yadeyade. You San Diegans and OC residents are too stuck up to build an airport near anywhere in proximity of housing, I mean come one, the airport is too noisy so it's shut down at night, what a joke. Imperial Valley is inevitable, all your residents are already moving here.