flywheeler

I believe virtually all of the money comes from the Feds and tourist taxes, something not unusual in a tourist community. The runway issue is a real political hot potato in Fort Lauderdale. We now have runway 9L-36R as the main runway and 13-31 as the cross runway which is used by airlines only in emergencies or when maintenance is done on the main runway. Several years ago the FAA along with the support of the then county commission developed a plan to extend runway 9R-36L (which is currently used almost exclusively for general aviation traffic). When final approvals were about to be given by our local government, NIMBY (not in my backyard) neighbors appeared and our commissioners IMHO caved to their noise instead of moving along with a project that would have benefited the community as a whole. I would guess that most of those opposing the extension knew they were near an airport runway when they bought their homes and their home prices no doubt reflected their proximity to the airport. Needless to say, the business community has been strong in its support of the runway extension, but businesses don't vote, people do. So our local government is trying to explore other options with the FAA to increase capacity and the runway extension has now been delayed several years. Maybe by the end of this year, there will be a plan. Who knows how long it will take to execute. In the meantime, during mid-day peak periods, in season, there will be delays. So my advice is in the winter fly early in the day to beat the traffic.