Letter from U.S. DOT: http://menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/200911TeterboroATCT.pdf
Washington - In response to his call for a new control tower at Teterboro Airport, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez announced today that he has receieved word from the U.S. Secretary of Transportation that the federal government will, in fact, build the new tower. In a letter to Menendez (available here: http://menendez.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/200911TeterboroATCT.pdf), Secretary Ray LaHood says that his department plans "to award a project design contract in 2011, award a construction contract in 2013, and commission a new [airport traffic control tower] in 2016."
Menendez had written President Obama in September calling for a new tower to be built (letter available here: http://menendez.senate.gov/pdf/09172009POTUSTeterboroairport%20tower.pdf). This came in the wake on numerous air safety issues involving Teterboro, including the fatal air collision over the Hudson River. Today, Menendez said he is grateful for the administration's decision and that it will be important for public safety.
"I am certainly happy that the administration responded to my call for a new tower at Teterboro in the best interests of public safety," said Menendez. "If we are going to keep the most complex airspace in the nation as safe as possible, it is imperative that the air traffic control system is as modern and technologically advanced as possible. It shouldn't take another air tragedy to show us that Teterboro's control tower is antiquated."
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