Wayne County and Washtenaw County are working together with local units of government to make good use of Willow Run Airport as part of the plan to create a dynamic engine of economic development in the area encompassed by Willow Run and Detroit Metropolitan airports. The concept is known as the Detroit Region Aerotropolis and planning is well along, years in development, with strong endorsements from all levels of government and our regional planning agency, SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. What a great running start they have, especially considering that Willow Run has underutilized runways suitable for jets, commercial and private. And it’s only 20 minutes or so from Ann Arbor.
So what are we doing to add to the synergy behind this significant economic development program? Not much, as far as I can see, except to undermine those efforts by planning a stealth expansion of the Ann Arbor airport to duplicate and compete with the plans for Willow Run. If ever there was a time to look for economies through cooperation and collaboration, this is it. On this issue, however, our focus seems to be on needless and wasteful duplication. The issues of safety and environmental impact are very important and need to be discussed and debated openly. My major concern, however, is that we take the opportunity to support a well-designed concept, the Aerotropolis, that will bring enormous economic benefit to our neighbors in eastern Washtenaw County rather than undermining that potential with an unnecessary and wasteful expansion, no matter whose money funds it. - Michael O. Emlaw, Ann Arbor
Get the Ann Arbor RSS Feed
AnnArbor.com