AP: Agreement will scuttle much of LAX modernization plan

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Agreement will scuttle much of LAX modernization plan

ASSOCIATED PRESS

5:30 a.m. December 1, 2005

LOS ANGELES – A new agreement will scuttle most of an $11 billion plan to modernize Los Angeles International Airport and allow Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to offer his own plan for security and facility improvements.

The city and county of Los Angeles, three cities and residents near the airport negotiated an end to lawsuits Wednesday that had challenged an airport plan largely fashioned by former mayors Richard Riordan and James Hahn.

The proposed settlement, details of which were to be released Thursday, would allow Villaraigosa to reshape much of the plan. But it would also allow the airport to begin a $300-million rebuilding of the southern runway complex to prevent close calls between aircraft, and to speed up $240 million in soundproofing for communities near the airport.

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The deal needs ratification by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion, Los Angeles County and the cities of Los Angeles, El Segundo, Inglewood and Culver City.

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Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20051201-0530-ca-laxagreement.html