AN AIRPORT PROGRAM FOR THE LONELL.-LAWRENCE-HAVERHILL AREA IN MASSACHUSETTS WITH A MASTER PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AIRPORT FOR LOWELL By William B. S. Leong B.S., Lingnan University, Canton, China, 1938, B.L.A., Massachusetts State College, 1946. Sgemitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1948. -4 /~~1 Submitted by . ..... e e . Approved . .. .. .. .. .. 350 Westgate West Cambridge, "aassachusetts September 14, 1948. Professor Fredrick J. Adams, Head Department of City and Regional Planning Massachusetts Institute of Tecbnology Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dear Professor Adams,: I hereby submit this thesis entitled An Airport Program for Lowell-Lawrence-Haverhill Area in Massachusetts, with a Master Plan for the Development of an Airport fbr Lowell, in fulfillment of the final requirement for the degree of Master in City Planning. Respectfully yours, William B. S. Leong 298911 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In assembling data for this study, information vase obtained from the following organizations: Civil Aeronautics Administration Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission Massachusetts Department of Public W6rks Massachusetts State Planning Board Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Co, Fay, Spofford and Thorndike, Engineers E. W. Wiggins Airways, Inc. Northeast Airlines Inc. The New England Council New Hampshire State Planning B6ard Slick Airways, Inc. Office of Manager, Logan International Airport Office of Mdfinger, Richardson Airport, Dracut Lowell Airport Commission Their assistance is hereby gratefully ackn6wledg A* iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART I: AIRPORT PROGRAM FOR LOWELL-LAWRENCE-HAVERHILL AREA. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........ ................... 1 A. Airport Planning - A Regional Problem,.*...................... 1 B. The Growth of Aviation in Massachuaeatta....................00* 3 C. City Planners and Airport Planning.. ... ......* .......... 6 D. Development of Airports,........ 7 CHAPTER 2: BASIS SURVEY DATA.. .. ...... ........... 10 A. Area.............................. 10 B. Population.......... ... .. ... ... 11 C. 19 D. Finane. ... *....................... e 20 CHAPTER 3: TYPES OF AIRCRAFT AM AIRPORT 22 22 Commerical Aircraft................... 23 Helicopters c.......g......... 25 CHAPTER 4: AIRPORT PLANNING STANDARDS.0....... 27 Class 1 Airports.............00* 0... 27 . Class 2 Airports............ .... 28 . Class 3 Airports.....000..0.0 .... 29 .0 Class 4 Airports.............00 .... 31 CHAPTER 5: PRESENT STATUS OF AVIATION.............. A. Scheduled Air Service............. 33 B. Feeder Lines..0.000. 00000.. 34 C. Personal Flying.. ... *.0000000. 35 V Page CHAPTER 6: INVENTORY OF EXTISTING PUBLIC AIRPORTS AND SEAPLANE BASES.......... 37 AIRPORTS: ,,........................... 37 Lawrence Municipal Airport, Lawrence.... ...... *. .. ............. 37 Plum Island Airpotbt, Newburyport .. *...*.....*......... 38 Shawsheen Pines Airport, Billerica. .......... .. ........ 39 Richards on Airport, Dracut... ..... ... 40 Walker-Dutton Airport, SEAPLANE BASES: Lowell Seaplane Anchorage, Lowell,........................... 41 Merrimac Valley Skyport, Lawrence.......* . **. ** .*....* 41 Plum Island Seaplane Anchorage, Newbiryport.. ... *. ... 42 CHAPTER 7: ESTIMATING NEEDS:...................... 43 A. Estimating Personal Plane Potentials ...................... 44 B. Estimating Future Scheduled and Non-Scheduled Commerical Air Traffic Pbtentials................ 54 1. Passenger Air Traffic.......... 55 2. Air Mai1....................... 56 3. Commodity Traffic.............. 57 CHAPTER 8: LOCAL FACTORS DETERMINING NUMBER, LOCATION AND SIZE OF AIRPORTS........ 61 Types of Manufacturing................. 61 Transportation,...... ......... ...... 62 Feeder Operations...................... 63 Existing Airports ...... ...... *...... 63 Airmin~dedness..................... 65 CHAPTER 9: RECOMMENDATIONS AND PROPOSALS......... 667 vi Page CHAPTER 10: EFFECTUATING THE PLAN................ 71 Civil Aeronautics Administration.. 71 Civil Aeronautics Board........... 72 Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission.. ..................... 72 The State Planning Board.......... 73 Municipal Bodies.................. 73 Engineering Consulting Office..... 73 Local Airlines.................... 74 FEDERAL AND STATE REGULATIONS RELATIVE TO FINANCING AIRPORT PROJECTS, APPROACH ZONE REGULATIONS AND OTHERS.......... p74 PART II: A MASTER FOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN AIRPORT FOR LOWELL Site Selectionu...................... 94 Design and Construction............ ... 98 Costs :and Estimates................... 98 Stages of Dgvelopment................. 100 Financing afid Management.............. 100 BIBLIOGRAPHY...................oo....... *0....... 103 vii TABLES Table No. Title Page l Current Inr'a,s of Registered Pilots and Aircraft in Massachusetts 44 2 Distribution of Registered Aircraft add their uses, and Registered Pilots as of August 1, 1948................. 35 Number of Planes Based in the Area..... 64 viii FIGURES Figure No. Title Page 1 Population Trends For The Entire Area................... 14 2 Population Trends For Lowe;;, Lawrence and Haverhill......... 15 3 Population Trends for No.Andover, Chelmsford, Dracut, Billerica and Tewksbury.*.....*.****...... 16 4 Population Trends for Salisbury, Merrimac, Groveland, Newbury, Tyngsborough, W. Newbury and Westford..... ................... 17 5 Population Trends for Newbury- port, Methuen, Amesbury, Andover and Georgetown.......... 18 ix MAPS Map No. Title Page 1 The Lowell-Lawrence-Haverhill Area ....... 77 2 Feeder Line Pattern Directly Affecting Lowell-Lawrence-Haverhill Area ......... 78 3 Feeder Line Applications ................. 79 4 Air Routes ........................ 80 5 Economic Interdependence of Urban Centers. 81 6 Population ....................... 82 7 Density ................................ 83 8 Wealth Distribution ...................... 84 9 Roads, Highways .......................... 85 10 Railroads ..... ............... 86 11 Recreational Areas ....................... 87 12 Airport Planning Zones ................... 88 13 Number of Registered Aircraft and Pilots.. 89 14 Estimated Distribution of Personal Planes Within Ten Years ...................... 90 15 Existing Airports and Seaplane Bases and General-Locations for Proposed Airports. 91 16 Proposals .............................. 92 17 A Plan for the Development of Airports and Airways in New Hampshire ........... 93 18 Overlay Showing geological Data of Pine Hill Site ............................. 95 19 Topographical May of Pine Hill Site ...... 96 x MAF'S Map No. Title P 20 Land Use - Lowell-Lawrence-Haverhill Area 21 Airport Development Proposals - Lowell-Lawrence-Haverhill Area 22 Five Sites for Lowell Airport 23 Topography - Pine Hill Site (Overlay) 24 General Scheme and Stages of Development for an Airport for Lowell - Pine Hill Site, Chelmsford. (Maps 20 to 24 are separate maps not bound with text) PART I AN AIRPORT PROGRAM FOR THE LOYELL--LAWRENCE- HAVERHILL AREA IN MASSACHUSETTS 1. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION k. AIRPORT PLANNING - A REGIONAL PROBLEM Until recent years airport development has not been guided by any systmematic planning. The only guide has been the general desire to advance aerial ttansporta#ion. Although many splendid airports have been provided for communities simply because they are needed, or simply be- cause the communities can well afford them without any far- sighted and comprehansive planning, there is grave danger that initial development may later be found to be improperly located, incapable of expansion, conflicting in purpose, and in the end, perhaps very costly mistakes. For example, the mixed operations for scheduled and non-scheduled commerical air services, military (coast guards), and personal flying at the Logan International Airports, Boston, is considered to be most hazardous and unsatisfactory. The situation is even more unfortunate when no sities are available for personal flying within the 10 miles radits from Boston. This aggravating condition could have been eliminated or made less serious if there was a com- prehensive plan for the Airport development in the Boston area. There are several reasons for an airport development plan to be considered on a comprehensive regional basis. Municipal boundaires including town, city, and even county do not usually delineate separate areas for planning 2. purposes.: The need for public facilities, and most efficient way to provide them, often overlap these political boundaries, and make joint solutions to their mutual problems highly advisable. This is especially true in airpbrt planning. It is felt that in the interest oftsmaller cities, towns and communities, which cannot finance or support air- ports of their own, although there are definite needs in aviation, it becomes necessary that an airport program be intelligeintly worked out as a regional program. Further- more, flying to-day consists of many types. When not one but all types of flying are taken into considebation, the fact there is a joint interest and responsibility is even more obvious. What is needed then is not a solution for a special and local problem, but a co-ordinated solution for the region. This regional concept has been recognized in the planning of water supply, sewerage, transportation and other public utilities. Great progress has been made both in preparing and in effecturating such comprehensive regional plans. Because of the rapidly growing needs of aviation,