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After years of disagreement, the city of New Haven and the town of East Haven signed a deal on Monday to expand air service at Tweed New Haven Regional Airport. 

Tweed is located on the border between New Haven and East Haven.  The airport has been a thorny problem for the two communities for nearly 40 years. Calls to lengthen the main runway and complete runway safety projects have been passionately opposed by East Haven residents, who say expanding Tweed would negatively affect their quality of life.
Under the agreement the parties will limit the airport’s main runway to the existing 5600 feet, and limit the number of departures and enplanements each year. Runway safety projects will be completed. Speaking at the capitol in Hartford, State Representative Martin Looney says Tweed can now move forward as a viable small airport. " And both of those terms are important, viable and small.  It emphasizes that the plan is to have additional flights from Tweed, but at the same time to give gives assurances to people on both sides of the border that the physical scope of the airport will be restrained. "

New Haven owns the airport, but it’s governed by the regional Tweed Airport Authority. Under the agreement, East Haven will go from 2 to 5 representatives on that governing board. East Haven Mayor April Capone Almon says "East Haven now has a larger more substantive voice on the  Airport Authority. We will now be major players in the decision making for the airport." 

Airport officials say they’ll begin by improving Tweed’s infrastructure.  And they hope eventually to attract air service to hubs such as Chicago, Detroit and Washington.