Price of LAX Project Could Jump

The sea monkeys that call Los Angeles International Airport home need Mayor James K. Hahn’s $9-billion modernization plan to survive.

That’s the argument made on Page 29, in Appendix H, Volume 3 of the 5,323-page environmental study for the mayor’s proposal to dramatically rework the aging airport. Just how much money it would take to save the microscopic invertebrates -- long a fixture in comic book ads and tiny plastic tanks on kids’ dressers -- is unclear.

What is clear is that relocating the sea monkeys, also known as Riverside fairy shrimp, an endangered species, to other quarters is just one of dozens of projects that Hahn proposes in an effort to compensate for the increased traffic, noise and pollution that would result from overhauling LAX.

These mitigation measures, required by state and federal law to lessen the effects of construction, would probably add significantly to the project’s $9-billion price tag. But their costs are absent from the 11-volume environmental study.

The $9-billion estimate also does not include the cost of buying the remaining houses and apartment buildings and moving 6,000 people out of a Westchester neighborhood where Hahn wants to build a new passenger check-in center. Nor does the proposal include the financing costs of the mayor’s LAX project, such as interest and insurance on revenue bonds.

Hahn is already facing skepticism from airlines, residents and business groups that his plan is necessary to make LAX more secure and efficient. The disclosure that the $9-billion estimate may not represent the true cost of the plan is adding to their concerns.

“The number is already so huge that the airlines are unbelievably concerned,” said Kelley Brown, an airline consultant. “The airlines also know in situations like this at airports it’s not unusual for costs to rise as time goes on.”

Airline representatives cite the nation’s largest public works project to date -- Boston’s Big Dig, which is reworking a congested roadway system by placing most of it underground. Costs for that project have escalated from $10.8 billion in 1997 to $14.6 billion today -- with mitigation measures taking up one-fourth of the project’s budget, according to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.

Mitigation measures included in the environmental study for Hahn’s plan range from reconfiguring roads and intersections around the airport, including constructing a new off-ramp and freeway interchange, to building new park-and-ride centers, conducting noise studies and relocating endangered species.

Estimating the cost of such projects is difficult because the number of mitigation measures could grow, or they could be refined or taken out of Hahn’s plan before the final environmental study is released next year, airport consultants said.

“In a situation like this you have five live alternatives and four different mitigation programs,” said Anthony Skidmore, vice president at CDM, a firm hired by the city to draft the environmental studies. “In some ways they’re notably different, so it’s often premature to try to do costs for all those mitigation measures.”

Hahn’s plan would dramatically rework LAX by demolishing Terminals 1, 2 and 3; knocking down parking garages in the current central terminal area; building a passenger check-in center about a mile east of the airport; and moving sets of parallel runways on either side of the airfield farther apart. The mayor released the environmental study for his plan on July 9 and will hold hearings on the document starting Monday.

To save time and money, Hahn chose to add his LAX plan to the environmental studies completed for an airport expansion project proposed by his predecessor, Mayor Richard Riordan.

Riordan wasn’t required to include as many mitigation measures in his three expansion alternatives because central elements of his plans, such as a road encircling the airport and a new terminal to the west near the El Segundo dunes, would disperse traffic, pollution and noise. Consequently, the $12-billion estimate for the expansion alternative favored by Riordan, known as “Alternative C,” already included most mitigation costs.

One of the biggest expenses not reflected in environmental studies for Hahn’s plan is completion of a voluntary program to buy properties in a Westchester neighborhood near LAX. The mayor hopes to build a check-in center there, but must first move 6,000 homeowners and renters and demolish their homes.

This process is likely to cost at least $300 million, according to estimates provided by the city’s airport agency. The city relies on federal grants to pay for the acquisitions, but that money could be used to complete other airport projects, such as a request by carriers to modernize the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

Economists who follow airport expansion projects say it’s also important to look for unintended costs that may result from Hahn’s LAX plan, such as tax revenue that would be lost after the city buys 77 acres of commercial property near the airport. The acquisition of 26 parcels is necessary in part to obtain rights of way for a rental car facility and a people mover, officials say.

A parking lot at Sepulveda and Century boulevards is included in that proposal. The lot generated $538,000 in tax revenues in 2002, according to Los Angeles County tax records.

Hahn’s environmental study also features several proposals to reroute traffic around LAX that would surely carry a high price tag, a Times review of the 11-volume document found. These include an elevated ramp from the Century Freeway near Aviation Boulevard to a check-in center at Manchester Square, and a new interchange off the San Diego Freeway at Lennox Boulevard. To obtain the right of way to build the interchange, the city would need to purchase nine to 12 homes and four to seven businesses, planners said.

Freeway interchanges can cost $50 million to $80 million, said Hasan Ikhrata, the Southern California Assn. of Government’s director of transportation planning.

If Hahn’s LAX plan goes forward, these road improvements might qualify for federal or state grants, said Patrick Tomcheck, a transportation engineer with the city agency that operates LAX.

The city also hopes to ease traffic around LAX by persuading passengers to take buses to the airport from FlyAway lots. Hahn’s study proposes that the lots be built in Long Beach, Inglewood, the San Fernando Valley, at a proposed Norwalk/Santa Fe Springs transportation center and at Union Station.

No cost estimates were provided for those park-and-ride lots, but the city would be required in most cases to purchase property and design and construct a terminal and parking facilities.

In comparison, design and construction costs to remodel the existing Van Nuys FlyAway -- a project that started earlier this year and is not included in Hahn’s plan -- are expected to run $50 million, according to airport documents.

Another major issue is airport noise. To offset additional aircraft noise, the city proposes prohibiting airlines from taking off to the east between midnight and 6:30 a.m. To do so, the city must conduct a study that proves such a policy would not economically harm airlines that fly during these hours.

The Federal Aviation Administration must also approve the change. Because of the time and expense involved, these studies are fairly rare. A similar study to limit nighttime flights at Burbank Airport has cost $3 million to date with one phase to go.Noise and pollution also are expected to affect wildlife in the area.

The mayor has said his modernization plan is the most environmentally friendly of the five alternatives. But his proposal still affects wildlife, and the environmental study proposes relocating species around the airport, including jackrabbits, spade-footed toads and fairy shrimp. The shrimp lie dormant in dirt on the southwestern side of the airport. To offset the destruction of habitat, the city proposes ripping up streets on 470 acres above Dockweiler State Beach. The city demolished nearly 800 homes on these dunes in the 1960s and 1970s, leaving the broken streets. Demolition costs are not provided in the environmental study.

Building new vernal pools to provide a home for the spade-footed toads and the shrimp could start at $40,000 an acre, said Travis Longcore, science director for the Urban Wildlands Group, a Los Angeles-based conservation organization, who has studied wildlife living near LAX.

“Compared to building a parking lot,” he said, “this is cheap.”