Washington State officials are in the process of searching for the location of a new regional airport to be built in the future. Yakima City officials are hoping they land in the valley. In January the Yakima City Council sent a letter to the Washington State Department of Transportation asking for YKM to be considered as the new airport location.

People responding to a city poll are in favor of expansion of the airport

Apparently Yakima wants a major expansion of Yakima Air Terminal-McAllister Field (YKM). A recent poll taken by the city of Yakima shows more than 80 percent support expansion of the local airport. The poll, with two questions was taken in December of last year. 1,404 people responded to the poll.

1,163 (83%) “Strongly support” expanding YKM
69 (5%) “Somewhat support”
20 (1%) “Neither support nor oppose”
47 (3%) “Somewhat oppose”
105 (7%) “Strongly oppose”

"The City of Yakima appreciates the many, many people who took the time to participate in this poll,” says Communications & Public Affairs Director Randy Beehler. “We are grateful for the more than 1,000 written comments the community provided. These will be very helpful going forward.”

Concerns? Those who filled out the poll aren't concerned

A press release from the city says there were 1,137 comments in response to the poll question, “What concerns, if any, do you have about this proposed expansion of the Yakima airport?” Nearly half had no concerns. The top five responses were:

535 had no concerns, with many suggesting expansion would be good for the local economy
236 replied traffic and congestion
162 replied noise
143 replied sufficient expansion
94 replied airport connectivity.

The Yakima City Council asked state officials last month to consider Yakima

On January 3rd the Yakima City Council approved a letter to the Washington State Department of Transportation asking for YKM to be considered as the new preferred airport location.

“YKM has a historic partnership with SeaTac Airport, including serving as the emergency back-up site for aircraft unable to land at SeaTac,” the City Council’s letter to WSDOT and the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Committee (CACC) stated. “Yakima provides an excellent option because of its central location with easy transportation access to the west and east sides of the state.”

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