The City of Fort Worth is in the final stages of completing a Part 150 Noise Study for Fort Worth Alliance Airport. Part 150 is a Federal Aviation Regulation which prescribes how aviation noise is to be evaluated, assessed and mitigated.

The process begins with an initial assessment of the current conditions and a projection of what the future noise conditions are expected to be. This is formulated into a ‘Current’ and ‘Future’ Noise Exposure map which then must be accepted by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Noise Exposure Map was approved by City Council in March 2009 and then accepted by the FAA in May 2009.

After the Noise Exposure Map was completed, a variety of operational and land use alternatives were examined to determine the best manner to mitigate the noise exposure. These operational options include flight track modification; preferential runway use, noise abatement flight procedures; run-up restrictions; noise barrier construction; landing fees based upon noise; airport and airspace use restrictions and complete or partial curfews. With all of these alternatives it was determined that none of the flight related alternatives provided any reduction in noise exposure and often created safety conflicts for other air traffic in the area. In addition, it was determined the other operational alternatives would not result in any reduction of noise exposure due to the type of operations conducted at Alliance.

The second component of alternatives were land-use related. This includes remedial measures such as fee simple acquisition; sales assistance; acoustical treatment and avigation easements. Among these options the City is planning to pursue fee simple acquisition of residences within the 70 DNL contour and avigation easements within the 65 DNL contour. There are also preventative measures which were reviewed such as zoning regulations; building code; and real estate disclosures. The City plans to establish Airport Development Zones to ensure compatible land use, utilize building codes to require sound insulation and work with realtors to provide better disclosure.

The Noise Compatibility Plan which includes all the measures that are being proposed was approved by City Council in March 2010 and has been submitted to the FAA for their approval.

Throughout this entire process there was both an advisory group that met and public forums which were conducted from 2005 through 2009.

Noise Exposure Maps - Current Condition | Future Condition

Land Use Recommendations