Dear Gang,

Last night I flew home to Rochester for spring break, and saw the latest of the ongoing construction at ROC. Monroe County has started building an expansion to the parking garage--to the *west.* There appear to be three new "row-segments" going up. Just the beginning of the pillars has been built. While it's good to see expansion at the airport, I have a question.

Won't this expansion intrude into the Runway 22 clear zone? I remember the diagrams of the 1988-1992 expansion showing the back corner of the garage almost touching the clear zone. Did the FAA grant Monroe County a variance? If so, why would they do that? There's room to the east behind the Fairfield Inn if the county wants to expand the garage.

The county moved short-term parking a long ways west during construction, so now meeters/ greeters and pax have to hike in cold winter weather (the website doesn't indicate that lot to have any of the shuttles). It seems to me that they should moved short-term into the first floor of the garage, and moved some of long-term out west to the fields. That by nature would impact fewer people since there aren't going to be meeters and greeters involved.

Will any of the garage expansion be used for short-term parking? I couldn't find anything about the project at the Democrat & Chronicle website, and the airport website only indicates that the construction is going on.

Jim

I might be able to help you on this answer a tad:

Being a fellow FL employee @ the station, I was told through certain sources that somehow, they were able to OK the expansion project despite the fact that it does go into the clearance zone for 4-22. The light poles are going to look funky, but somehow, the project got the clearance to go on through. The parking garage addition will be more parking for the long term lot. Apparently, through a study, there is a need for this extra parking(I don't know how they can now validate this since service has done nothing but dwindle since '92). All I hope is that this is money that will be well spent......

-Brian

Thanks, Brian, for the info. I'll have to write my county legislator and ask him to look into it. They should *not* be pushing short-term parking anywhere further from the terminal. When the garage first opened in 1992, the west section of the first floor was short-term parking, the east section was rental car parking, and the upper two floors were long term. But then private long-term lots opened along Buell Road in the 1990's, and offered cheaper competition. So Monroe County moved short-term west into the open lot and made that section of the garage long-term too. And that was before the short-term was made first-half-hour-free, too, so I can't imagine they made much more money by kicking short-term out.

Now Monroe County owns both of those formely private remote lots, so I don't see what they have to be concerned about. They're making all the money, any way you look at it.

I wonder if the garage project is using part of the chunk of federal money that our Congresspeople shook loose a few years ago. The airport certainly can't afford to be raising fees.

Is AirTran planning to restore the third ROC-BWI flight in the summertime?

Jim

Jim at the present time, we are apparently flirting with that possible idea. Nothing yet is set in stone for April, if it happens I'll let you know about it