Fifth parallel runway not in works for Detroit airport

DETROIT — Detroit Metro Airport is not planning to build a fifth parallel runway.

The proposal had been widely opposed by residents in Romulus, where the airport is located, and surrounding communities when it came to a head in 2008.

"That fifth parallel runway is not anywhere on our radar right now," said Michael Conway, spokesman for Detroit Metro Airport. "You really need to have the demand to justify the cost of building a new parallel runway."

A 2008 Free Press article pointed out that the airport had been relying on outdated data to make its pitch for the new runway, which would have brought the total number of runways to seven. In addition to the airport's four north/south runways, it also has a pair of east/west runways to accommodate changes in wind direction.

"Air traffic for us is not currently growing," Conway said. "If you look at our passenger data for about the last five years, we've been pretty flat. … Our concern now is maintaining the infrastructure."

The airport saw a significant drop in business during the Great Recession.

In 2007, the airport served more than 36 million passengers and handled 513.8 million pounds of cargo. In 2013, the number of passengers was at 32.4 million and the airport handled 477.5 million pounds of cargo. That represented an increase in the number of passengers over 2012, but a decline in cargo.

Romulus Mayor LeRoy Burcroff said the community considered the proposal for a fifth parallel runway a threat and called it a "huge relief" knowing it would not be built. He said airport officials have made tremendous strides in their outreach efforts to their neighbors more recently.

"Overall, communication has been much improved," Burcroff said.

The Detroit Free Press is owned by Gannett, parent company of Paste BN. Gannett newspaper stories occasionally are used in Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. You can follow the author of this story, Free Press reporter Eric D. Lawrence, on Twitter @_ericdlawrence.