ANCHORAGE — Residents living near the Talkeetna Airport say expansions say removing trees to expand the transportation site now gives their property a clear view of the airport, which shuttles tourists and climbers to Denali as well as fielding local traffic.
“They never informed the people they were going to cut the trees. Now they might have said they were going to put an apron but you know we’re just kind of simple people here. We were expecting a forward approach for communication,” Talkeetna Resident Elizabeth Brown told KTUU-TV (http://bit.ly/2aGARJO ).
ADOT held two public meetings in Talkeetna before construction began and agreed to maintain a 25 foot vegetative barrier.
ADOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy said the FAA-funded project required the trees be removed.
“It’s about improving the airport, and one of these improvements of course is we always have safety when it comes to airports, tress and airplanes don’t mix well,” said McCarthy.
The Alaska Department of Transportation is working to add new taxi lanes, access roads and aprons — areas where planes can taxi and park — to the airport.
As far as noise goes, McCarthy said the trees that were removed were not particularly effective for noise control.
“Trees are only a good noise barrier if they’re hundreds and hundreds of feet thick. That condition doesn’t exist on the airport,” said McCarthy.
