State Aviation Master Plan
The State of Oregon has an extensive aviation system
spread from corner to corner of the state, providing valuable
transportation options for the public which range from small emergency
use airports in remote regions to the extensive passenger enplanements
at Portland International. Managing such a large and diverse system
can be a daunting task if a comprehensive plan isn’t in place to serve
as a guide to manage these facilities. In addition, with the ever
increasing demands for project funding, it is imperative that the
Oregon Department of Aviation (ODA) have a solid inventory,
understanding of need and plan for development for the entire state
aviation system to meet the needs of existing and future development.
Steps are being taken by the ODA to address this need for a
comprehensive plan by undertaking several studies to assess the
condition of the existing aviation infrastructure, the economic
benefit of the aviation industry, and the passenger demands for air
service. Each of these individual studies is a portion of the overall
process necessary to create a systematic approach to meeting the
improvements which are identified, as well as proposing development
strategies and possible inter-agency coordination options. All of
these items are being undertaken in an effort to create a more
efficient and comprehensive approach to development of the aviation
system of Oregon.
Creating a single, comprehensive document for use by the ODA, the
State Aviation Board and the State legislature would provide a sole
source of information from which funding and development decisions
could be made. Each of the existing Work Orders focus on different
areas of expertise and the work identified in this Work Order will
fill in the few gaps that remain and consolidate the findings of the
various projects into a single report, referred to as the State
Aviation Master Plan.
The primary goal of this project is to provide a comprehensive plan
which addresses all public-use airports in the state of Oregon and
which identifies how to improve individual airports, as part of the
larger state system, to meet the needs of tourism, economic
development, and transportation services for each community and the
state as a whole.
