Aerotroplis in Bradley International Airport Communities' Future

As the state legislature considers creating a quasi-public authority to oversee Bradley International Airport and other state airports, Hartford Business Journal reports in a story today about plans to create an aerotropolis around Bradley.

The term aerotropolis, popularized by University of North Carolina business professor John Kasarda, envisions major cities with airports at their center. Within a 20-mile radius, large-scale manufacturing industry, storage and distribution companies, commercial developments, residential housing and entertainment venues would all co-exist around the central hub with all roads leading to the airport, the Hartford Business Journal reports.

The aerotropolis plan is remarkably similar to what town officials surrounding Bradley have advocated for years: major highways, residential and commercial development, and better utilization of the airport as a major economic driver, according to the Journal.

“For the aerotropolis to take off, we are going to need other linkages to the airport,” Patrick McMahon, economic development director for Suffield, told the Journal.

The Senate Saturday unanimously that would create a new 11-member Connecticut Airport Authority, who would be charged with spurring economic development around Connecticut's airports, primarily Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. The bill now heads to the House for debate, where it is also expected to be approved.

“This bill is not only good economic development policy for Connecticut, it’s particularly good for north-central Connecticut and the Hartford area,” said state Sen. LeBeau, D-East Hartford, who oversaw the writing of the bill as Senate Chairman of the Commerce Committee. “Over the past several years we have missed opportunities to bring new routes and carriers to Bradley and to otherwise capitalize on the transportation hub there. We haven’t had a marketing director at Bradley for nine months. The state (Department of Transportation) is very good at running Bradley as far as maintaining aircraft and clearing runways, but not so good at the business side. That’s where the new Authority will excel.”

A that hopes to benefit from such an aerotropolis concept, is coming closer to reality. That plan is dependent on the proposed reconfiguration of the westbound ramp from Route 20 to Route 75 in Windsor Locks. 

That reality will also lead to the construction of a 17-acre mixed-use development between the Ramada Inn hotel and Route 20.

Kevin Casey, project manager for BDL Real Estate Holdings LLC, told the Windsor Locks Board of Selectmen in May that his company has reached an agreement with the state Department of Transportation that moves the proposed project forward. Casey said his firm received a letter from the department saying the project is a go.