A first look at the newest plan for a future Kansas City International Airport is out for examination.
A site plan calls for tearing down Terminal B, building the new airport where Terminal A stands now and using Building C for commercial offices related to aviation.
City Aviation Director Mark Van Loh told members of the City Council that the plan will only go forward as drawn if it fits budgets.
Van Loh said the spending plan figure now is put at $1.2 billion.
In final analysis, site A wins by a 3 to 4 margin, according to the aviation chief.
Van Loh said the plan drawn five years ago for a new KCI was discarded: State of Missouri wanted too many highway changes.
“We added up the costs of just the road projects alone, without even starting to build a new terminal. It was half a billion dollars," Van Loh said. "We put the brakes on right there, because half a billion dollars is more than MoDOT's entire budget for the State of Missouri.”
This is a preliminary plan.
A final analysis and configuration is months away and needs city and federal approval and, with optimum conditions, a new KCI could be built by 2016.
No direct taxpayer dollars would be involved.
