WASHINGTON — Metro’s Silver Line extension to and beyond Dulles International Airport is expected to be a big benefit to the airport.
“There is going to be development all along the corridor,” Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority CEO Jack Potter told a group at the Dulles Matters event on Wednesday. “Every time there’s new residential growth, it’s opportunity for us.”
More passengers at the airport is always good for business. But, the issue becomes where development happens.
“We are under tremendous development pressure,” Loudoun County Supervisor Ralph Buona told the same audience. “The pressure continues to encroach on this airport.”
Buona said he is primarily concerned about possible development around the future Loudoun Gateway Metro station.
“It’s incumbent upon us not to let that encroachment occur because we’re seeing what’s happening at Reagan [National Airport] right now,” Buona said. “We’re seeing the noise complaints, and we do not need flight restrictions [at Dulles].”
Restrictions at Dulles could stunt the airport’s growth and hinder cargo flights into and out of the airport, Buona said.
There are several proposed developments within the airport’s noise impact area.
