New airport near Tumwater? (Seattle, Spokane: real estate, new house, to buy)

[bethflorez]

Hello,

We are considering a move to Tumwater (area) late summer 2021. Just read about the possibility of a new huge airport being considered to the west of this area. Just wondering if the locals had better intel than what I have found on the internet. Not loving the idea of living near a Sea-Tac type airport, but love the area.

Any updates/insiders news would be appreciated.

Thank you for your help.

[Hemlock140]

Yes, that's one area being considered for future airport development. With Seatac being beyond it's capacity (pre-pandemic) much discussion has taken place for another regional international airport.
Even with the opening of Everett to commercial traffic, demand has exceeded capacity. When thing return to normal I would expect the study/planning to resume in earnest, but then no one can pedict the outcome. It could end up being Tumwater, or somewhere else, but has to be close enough to population to be feasible. You could move anywhere with a lot of vacant land nearby and end up next to the new airport.



South Thurston County Viewed As Possible Location for Second Major Washington Airport | News | chronline.com




South Thurston County Viewed As Possible Location for Second Major Washington Airport | News | chronline.com

[Diana Holbrook]

That big green area they're looking at isn't prime real estate, it's a HUGE swampy wetland. There's a REASON it's undeveloped. IT'S WET.

I've heard it discussed over the years, but never acted upon. Every other square inch of Western Washington is better suited than that site. The current Olympia airport site is better suited... as is a lot of the high prairie in Lewis County, if they really want a different location than the current airport.


Not only would they need to buy the ground, they'd need to buy out and build a whole feeder highway in and out, and that's just not feasible, with another airport property, closer to the freeway, just a few miles away.

[bethflorez]

Oh my.....so, if I am understanding you correctly--you think the current airport in Tumwater could eventually be used for commercial flights? We are looking at a development SE of that current airport.

Thank you for your input.

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

That big green area they're looking at isn't prime real estate, it's a HUGE swampy wetland. There's a REASON it's undeveloped. IT'S WET.

I've heard it discussed over the years, but never acted upon. Every other square inch of Western Washington is better suited than that site. The current Olympia airport site is better suited... as is a lot of the high prairie in Lewis County, if they really want a different location than the current airport.


Not only would they need to buy the ground, they'd need to buy out and build a whole feeder highway in and out, and that's just not feasible, with another airport property, closer to the freeway, just a few miles away.

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by bethflorez

Oh my.....so, if I am understanding you correctly--you think the current airport in Tumwater could eventually be used for commercial flights? We are looking at a development SE of that current airport.

Thank you for your input.

I really don't know what will happen, but people aren't moving away from here. FWIW... I'm less than 10 miles south of the current airport AND the proposed swamp airport. I hope neither one happens.

Thurston County doesn't even really want to issue building permits for new house. I can't imagine approval of a major airport happening. Neither one will be happening in the near term.


It's all just speculative talk.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

I really don't know what will happen, but people aren't moving away from here. FWIW... I'm less than 10 miles south of the current airport AND the proposed swamp airport. I hope neither one happens.

Thurston County doesn't even really want to issue building permits for new house. I can't imagine approval of a major airport happening. Neither one will be happening in the near term.


It's all just speculative talk.

Yes, speculative indeed. There is no question SeaTac is hemmed in with little room to expand. However, Tumwater is somewhat baffling because it is about 60 miles south of downtown Seattle. It would only work with high speed rail to Seattle. We are talking about major expenditures here, but that has never scared Washington leaders in the past.

[grega94]

Wasn’t there some far fetched idea to build a high speed train to Spokane, with stop in Moses Lake and building a huge international airport there?

[pnwguy2]

Yes, I do remember this proposal. The idea was for it to be a major airport with the current infrastructure being adequate as it had a large platform due to it being a military airport with multiple runways. I believe even today, a lot of commercial airline testing takes place in Moses Lake. This plan was only possible, again, with high speed rail to Seattle and Spokane, something that was later deemed too expensive, especially through the Cascade Mountains.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_...tional_Airport

[leastprime]

Reliever airport is called PDX and High-speed Rail
and won't happen until West Seattle bridge and LINK are completed.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by leastprime

Reliever airport is called PDX and High-speed Rail
and won't happen until West Seattle bridge and LINK are completed.

PDX is not really a “reliever” airport for SeaTac. People don’t want anything to do with PDX if they need to fly to Seattle. It just adds another hour and a half with a connection or a three hour drive. But I do get your point about high speed rail but it obviously doesn’t exist right now and is not likely anytime soon.