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InsiderNJ reports on how BRAAC members met with Assemblyman Roy Freiman and Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis to discuss lack of transparency in Master Plan to expand Solberg airport. Link
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How Close are the Runways to Schools?
How Many Seconds Does a Pilot Have to React?
All proposed configurations of the expansion of Solberg Airport show the crosswinds runway lining up directly with Holland Brook School (2850 ft) and Readington Middle School (3800 ft) as well as Branchburg Central Middle School (5900 ft) and White Oak Park (5500 ft). Hillcrest Park is 1600 ft off the end of the main runway.
When is a crosswind runway used? In windy conditions when the main runway is not appropriate. Windy, gusty conditions.
An aircraft traveling at 200 miles per hour travels the 0.3 mile distance to Hillcrest Park in 5 seconds, not much room for error or time to correct, right? The half mile to Holland Brook School in 9 seconds or 14 seconds to Readington’s Middle School or 18 seconds to Branchburg’s.
The Philadelphia crash a couple of months ago occurred 3 miles from NE Philadelphia airport. All the above locations are well within that range. By any objective standard, the frequency of air accidents is increasing.
Did you know that the expansion includes an operations area for eVTOLs - electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Essentially drones or helicopters. Now, what could possibly go wrong, helicopters and jets in the same airspace? Think back to what happened in Washington D.C. recently.
Is this what our communities want? Is this expansion a “done deal” as some have been heard to say or is this fight worth continuing until every avenue is exhausted? Do something.
The expansion of Solberg Airport is unneeded and unwanted.
An AIP grant would be an egregious waste of federal tax dollars.
Solberg Airport, in Readington Township, Hunterdon, is a small privately owned general aviation airport, sitting on a 746-acre tract of open farmland owned by Solberg Aviation. The airport is updating its Airport Master Plan and Airport Layout Plan making it eligible for Federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants to pay for construction of a significant expansion. Information provided to date informs us that Solberg hopes to become a regional jetport equivalent to Morristown Airport. Their plans call for a 100’ wide, 5,600-foot-long main runway, a paved crosswind runway, a heliport, and 500,000 square feet of hangar space.
- Construction of an expansion at Solberg would require 10's of millions of dollars of federal grants to improve a private business, on privately owned land. Should government money be used to enrich a private landowner? NJ has more pressing needs for limited Airport Improvement Program funds.
- The expansion of Solberg Airport would degrade the quiet rural character of Townships in central NJ. Residents and the governing bodies of both Branchburg and Readington are opposed to airport expansion. Existing infrastructure cannot support it.
- A regional jetport in Readington would cause significant noise, water, and air pollution. Smaller jets, either private or chartered, have been found to be the most polluting form of transportation per passenger mile, and they service only a tiny fraction of the general population. Air pollution is a serious issue as NJ prioritizes the reduction of carbon emissions.
- Readington’s zoning ordinance does not allow expansion. Its Master Plan does not support it. Solberg is a privately owned airport and is subject to the Municipal Land Use Law. Expansion would require municipal approval. Solberg’s last expansion attempt, following the DOT’s conditional approval of the Airport Master Plan in 1999, led to 20 years of litigation with Readington Township, ending in 2019.
- The proximity of Solberg to nearby schools and parks causes a safety concern. Solberg is directly contiguous to Hillcrest Park and to Readington’s two largest schools. Solberg is less than one mile west of Branchburg’s Middle School and the large complex of athletic fields at White Oak Park.
- The location of a regional jetport at Solberg would be detrimental to Morristown and Trenton Mercer Airports. Solberg is within 30 minutes from both and would take business from them. Morristown has experienced a dramatic drop in operations over the last 20 years and Trenton is struggling to make improvements in structures and services to transform it into a commercial airport.
- In Hunterdon County’s Agricultural Development Area (ADA), pursuant to State law, the preferred use of farmland is agriculture. Readington Township is a leader in farmland and open space preservation. Infrastructure is insufficient. The State Plan doesn’t support intense development in Planning Area 4.
- In 2006, the State Airport System Plan’s stated goal was to develop all Priority General Service Airports into Advanced Service Airports. Since that time, annual operations for general aviation in NJ have fallen by half, and according to the 2022 SASP, measurable growth in annual operations is not expected over the next 20 years. The expansion of Solberg is not needed.
LET'S STOP AIRPORT EXPANSION TOGETHER!
Solberg Airport is updating their Master Plan in a process that will lead to airport expansion.
Their goal is to create a regional jetport on their 740 acre tract,
in the middle of our community.
We are a group of concerned citizens from Branchburg and Readington, New Jersey.
The NJDOT needs to hear from you
It is the stated goal of the NJDOT to upgrade the service at “Priority General Service” airports (like Solberg) to “Advanced Service” airports (examples include Morristown and even Teterboro), as much as possible: “any airport included in the Priority General Service functional level [should] be developed to the fullest extent possible in efforts to comply with the Advanced Service functional level objectives.” (NJ State Airport System Plan, Executive Summary, NJDOT, Division of Multimodal Services, Bureau of Aeronautics, June, 2022)