Ding, Dong the Runway’s Done

Well, it only took about 4 ½ months and $10.5 million – of which the FAA paid 90% -but our runway is now as good as new, actually probably better than new. The grant from FAA was paid from a fund that is collected only from people who actually use the airport, NOT from regular taxpayers.

As we approach Monday’s ribbon cutting,  for many of the people who made this project work, we thought you might find a few facts and figures about the project interesting.

First though, a quick recap of why we needed to rebuild the runway. Two reasons come to mind. First, the pavement was approaching the end of its useful life. Much like aircraft, that means either fixing the problem or curtailing operations. We knew that a complete rebuild of the pavement would be the most effective solution.

A quote from Addison’s mayor pro tempore Blake Clemens explains the second reason we undertook this massive project. “The single most important economic driver in our town is Addison Airport.”

Plenty of Truck Traffic

Runway re-construction used more than 1,263 truckloads of asphalt, 22 miles of new electrical cable and 181 miles of paint. Crews also planted enough new grass to cover 35 professional football fields.

We all very much appreciate the patience everyone showed during the work. It wasn’t always easy to move airplanes around, nor to realize that you’d lost some of the flexibility of your aircraft because of our work. Now though, the airport’s “new” runway will be around to serve users, as well as the Town of Addison for many years to come. Next up in the spring is the taxiway Alpha rebuild.

Blake Clemens added, “Addison airport generates over $300 million in local economic impact, including more than 3,000 jobs.”

Those are great numbers for any business these days, but certainly for a business aviation airport.