Kenner officials said Louis Armstrong International Airport has agreed to conceive, over the next few months, a plan to reduce long-standing drainage problems at the airport that affect nearby Kenner neighborhoods
Kenner officials said Louis Armstrong International Airport has agreed to conceive, during the next few months, a plan to reduce long-standing drainage problems at the airport that affect nearby Kenner neighborhoods.
It remains unclear, however, how long it would take to actually build any proposed improvements, as that would likely require seeking money from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Kenner officials, however, touted what they called an agreement that the airport will provide a drainage plan in 90 days to address what the city has long called a serious problem. City officials said the runoff issues can't wait for a proposed redevelopment of the airport pushed by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, a vision that would at best take years to come to fruition.
Kenner officials said the agreement with the airport came after meetings this week involving officials at the facility, Kenner, the parish and the city of New Orleans, which owns Louis Armstrong International Airport.
"We now have a consensus from representatives from the airport, the Kenner Council and administration and parish officials, that the immediate flood and drainage needs of north Kenner must be primary in addressing any future airport expansion," Jefferson Parish Councilman Ben Zahn said.
The airport in a statement Friday said Crescent City Aviation Team, a joint venture that is overseeing the plans for the airport's overhaul, will do the drainage study "as part of (the) next steps in the design process."
"The firm will recommend any improvements that need to be made to minimize drainage issues connected to the airport. We will continue to work with Kenner and Jefferson Parish to ensure that we work to mitigate any impacts on their drainage system," the statement said.
The airport's statement didn't mention a deadline to complete the drainage study.
Kenner Councilman Kent Denapolis said airport engineers have estimated that runoff from the airport during heavy rains dumps as much as 1,000 cubic feet per second of water into the city and parish drainage systems. Public officials believe that extra water contributes to flooding in nearby neighborhoods during storms, such as a downpour Wednesday that dumped 2.5 inches of rain in 25 minutes in parts of northwest Kenner. That caused widespread street flooding, including in some streets just north of the airport.
Denapolis said the airport's runoff has particularly led to flooding in the University City and Lincoln Manor areas. "This should have been done 10 years ago," Denapolis said.
Public works administrators in Kenner and Jefferson Parish also said they are encouraged by the airport's "verbal agreement" to address the runoff problems. "All parties agreed that this crucial issue has been delayed much too long," said Zahn.