The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority has voted to approve retaining two firms, AECOM, Inc. and STV, Inc., to conduct studies focusing on improving multi-modal transit connections to and from Burbank Bob Hope Airport and to begin planning for potential land uses in and around the Airport, including the B-6 property, site of the former Lockheed Martin “Skunk Works.”

The Airport Land Use Working Group (ALUWG), comprising staff members from both the Airport and the City of Burbank, will provide oversight and direction for the studies.

The technical studies represent the next steps in a joint Authority and City process to develop a consensus plan for the future of Bob Hope Airport. The studies’ scopes include:

1. Engaging in a consensus-based planning process with community involvement to identify future transportation options.

2. Assisting the Authority in evaluating and integrating concurrent transportation planning activities, such as improving connections to the North Hollywood Red Line Station and to the Gold Line in Pasadena.

3. Assisting the City in identifying acceptable land use development opportunities at the Airport and nearby rail stations.

4. Developing strategies that minimize environmental impacts of Airport-related development.

In 2011 both the Authority and the City agreed to extend a 2005 Development Agreement until March, 2015. Extending the Agreement allows the City and Authority time to work closely with the community to explore options for future use of the land in and around the Airport and the transit systems serving the Airport.

The preliminary schedule calls for the public involvement in the studies to begin next spring. The selected firms, AECOM, Inc. and STV, Inc., have extensive transportation and land use planning experience. The studies will take approximately fourteen months to complete at a cost of $949,647, being covered through a grant from the federal government with additional funding from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.