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Madison airport prepares for construction work until 2020

FAA officials plan to phase in improvements By Chuck Clement, Staff Reporter, courtesy of Madison Daily Leader

Big changes are planned at the Madison Municipal Airport within improvements remaining much similar to previous plans – a new taxiway and an expanded apron- but the majority fund-provider for the projects now supports splitting the bigger projects into multi-year endeavors, most likely to also spread out the funding load.

Actual construction of a parallel-taxiway to Madison’s paved runway (about 19,000 square yards) is currently scheduled in 2016 and ’17 and the relocation of the former airport administration building and hangar is set for 2018. Then, apron and new parking lot design will take place in 2019, and their construction is scheduled during 2020.

The price tag for those projects and their associated wetland mitigation and other planning, amounts to about $4.6 million. The federal government (through the Federal Aviation Administration) is supposed to pick up 90 percent of the bill under the current funding formula.

According to Morris Riggin, city airport manager, federal officials have adopted the planning strategy of breaking up large projects into smaller projects that are completed over multiple-year periods. Riggin and members of the municipal airport board are currently working out Madison’s part in the new FAA approach to project “phasing.”

“Of course, that process means things are going to get more expensive overall when you split things up and have them done over a number of years,” Riggin said. “Inflation usually kicks in year after year.”

While the parallel-taxiway and expanded apron projects have basically stayed the same overall, Riggin said federal officials may prefer to demolish the former city administration office and hangar instead of moving the building. The building has to leave its current site to make room for a larger runway apron, and total relocation costs are budgeted at $346,000.

According to Riggin, federal officials have proposed assessing the value of the older building before moving it in 2018. By using the valuation information, the FAA would determine if moving costs would support demolishing the building instead of moving it to save money.

Riggin said that the demolition and no plans for replacing the building, which also contains an aircraft hangar and equipment storage space, would leave the airport with no cover for six aircraft and the airport’s utility tractor and snow blower equipment. He is currently considering different avenues in salvaging the former administration building.

FAA and local officials are also planning to extend the Madison airport’s grass runway 120 feet farther to the northeast in 2023. The city airport would need to conduct an environmental assessment of the runway extension in 2022.

Article Provided By: madisonworks.com