Yesterday the new expansion of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport took off. Officials broke ground on Monday to start construction on the new south runway which will extend it from 5,200 feet long to 8,000, and from 100 feet wide to 150. The expansions includes over a segment of the airport runway to be built over top of Federal Highway. This section of highway will be tunneled and the runway will be slightly sloped. Airports in Seattle and Las Vegas also have sloped runways; but the proposed Fort Lauderdale extension comes in at 1.3 slope which is very close to the maximum of 1.5 allowed by the FAA.

The over 850 homeowners who will be effected by the new airport's runway have been offered some financial compensation and soundproofing of their homes. This is part of the airport's pilot program, a $170 million noise mitigation program. In addition, the airport has contributed $10 million to help fund habitat restoration at West Lake Park in Hollywood because of its close proximity to the airport.

The South Runway Expansion - part of a $791 million project and expected to create over 11,000 new jobs - is funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Florida Department of Transportation, and Passenger Facility Charges. The new Fort Lauderdale runway is scheduled to open September 2014. For more information visit: www.broward.org/Airport/FLLair