The Central Texas Airport is designed as a privately owned and operated regional reliever airport to Austin Bergstrom International Airport, serving corporate and private general aviation. Central Texas Airport (“CTA”) will call Bastrop County home, offering an 8,000 foot runway located within almost 2,000 acres of surrounding commercial/industrial business sites. CTA will bring Bastrop County an important economic engine, allowing the community to compete and prosper in the global marketplace. CTA will provide a huge economic boost to area property values by transforming tax-exempt agricultural land and potential sand and gravel mining property into new educational and employment opportunities generating an estimated 11,000 new jobs.
CTA is located 16.5 miles east of downtown Austin, 8 miles east of the SH 130 Tollway, 10.5 miles from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport ("ABIA"), and just 8-9 miles from the cities of Bastrop, and Elgin, Texas. Sited at the intersection of Texas FM 969 and FM 1704 along the Colorado River, the location was evaluated as the only ideal regional airport site in central Texas. The Federal Aviation Administration was included in Aeronautical Studies determining airspace and procedural compatibility, which resulted in CTA’s request for airspace utilization being approved on September 18, 2007. The FAA’s input included a comment that, “you could not have picked a better place”.
After receiving input from the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa owners, other area property owners, and considering the new Cedar Creek High School location 3.5 miles south on Texas Highway 71, CTA was redesigned. The runway was relocated and realigned to accommodate these important and valuable community assets. The objective for the revised airport plan was accomplished by containing the 65+ DNL projected noise profiles within the boundaries of CTA. Noise projections falling outside of CTA’s boundary reflect 60 DNL or lower which are classified by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) as “Quiet” sound levels - equivalent to normal conversation at 3-5 feet in the outdoor environment. Coordination with the FAA continued throughout the redesign process resulting in CTA’s revised plan being approved on January 2, 2009.
Central Texas Airport is being developed as a privately funded business enterprise, open to public use with restrictions that protect the vital economic, environmental, and social interests of the Bastrop community and CTA. The private development of CTA during these difficult financial times offers economic benefits to the Bastrop community while many other communities around the nation are waiting for government funding initiatives or the recovery of the banking and housing industries. Letters of Interest have already been received from businesses and educational providers recognizing that CTA offers new opportunities for growth and business expansion while providing unmet needs in the central Texas region.
