Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to uphold the "highest safety standards" when considering whether to approve President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch in Washington, D.C.
Duckworth wrote in a letter sent Thursday to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford that the agency must also be “firm in rejecting any improper or irresponsible pressure from President Trump to prioritize the construction of his gaudy, vanity arch over the safety of the American people.”
The FAA said Friday it would respond directly to Duckworth.
The proposed arch would sit within a traffic circle — between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial — connecting Washington with northern Virginia.
Billed as celebrating the 250th anniversary of America's founding, the triumphal arch is slated to be 250 feet tall. By comparison, the Lincoln Memorial is 99 feet tall, and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is about 164 feet.
Duckworth noted planning documents from the National Parks Service described the use of tower cranes — up to 320 feet tall – during the arch’s construction, which is expected to take place for 20 hours per day year round. The monument is expected to be completed within three years, the files stated.
Duckworth, who previously served as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot for the Illinois Army National Guard during the Iraq War, wrote in her letter that commercial jets can fly as low as 500 feet above ground level, or AGL, on final approach to nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, or DCA.
“Introducing construction equipment approaching the AGL limit in an already congested airspace raises additional operational and safety issues,” she said.
The NPS assessment noted that “aviation required safety lighting” would be installed at the monument, “ensuring compliance with aircraft visibility requirements while limiting unnecessary light emission.”
In a previous statement, the FAA said that it had conducted a preliminary feasibility study for the arch project, and that the only requirement determined by the review was that “red obstruction lights — a common safety tool” should be added to the top of the structure.
The FAA said that “Career safety experts found no adverse impacts” at DCA, and the agency noted that it would next conduct a “full aeronautical study” in coordination with the National Park Service.
The arch proposal’s proximity to DAC has raised concerns from Duckworth and others about its impact on air traffic.
“The NCR is an extremely challenging airspace because of complicated flight paths, restricted airspace and complex civil-military operations,” Duckworth wrote, referring to the National Capital Region and flight rules for its radius rings.
“Even minor disruptions can have cascading, fatal effects—a sobering reality that our country witnessed just last year,” she continued
Early last year, an Army helicopter collided with a commercial flight, killing 67 people.
In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum earlier this week, other congressional lawmakers raised concerns that the arch would “defy the height regime Congress has imposed on the capital for more than a century.”
The 1910 Heights of Buildings Act generally caps the height of structures at 130 feet — more than 100 feet less than the proposed arch.
At a meeting earlier this month in which commissioners voted to approve the arch, National Capital Planning Commission Chair William Scharf argued against the agency’s longstanding position of the “mandatory nature of applicability” of the law to federal construction.
“The Height of Buildings Act is codified as part of D.C.’s local zoning code,” Scharf said. “Traditionally federal projects are not subject to local zoning requirements.”
Scharf recommended that the Trump administration bring legal rationale about the 1910 law to the commission ahead of any final vote on the project. The planning agency, which is stacked with allies of the president, is slated to review the arch again July 9, according to an agenda for the meeting.
An Interior Department memo posted Thursday argued that federal buildings are not subject to the statute, The Washington Post reported. A request for comment about the memo made to the agency was not immediately returned.
The arch is among a number of projects that Trump has initiated to remake Washington. Others include the repainting of the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial and the 90,000-square-foot ballroom to be built at what once was the East White of the White House.