Part of a project to extend the length of the runway at the Jefferson Municipal Airport was recently completed.
The contractor, Leroy and Sons of Arcadia, have been working on construction to relocate 243rd Street. Earlier this year, the City of Jefferson was awarded two federal grants, which are completely funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). One grant is to relocate the county road and the other grant is the design and construct the runway extension.
Engineering firm Bolton and Menk applied for the grants and Senior Projects Manager Carl Byers says the grants have helped kick start the process in creating 800 extra feet, for a total of 4,000-feet of runway. Byers explains one of the benefits of having a longer runway means improved safety for current aircraft.
“If they have some sort of a problem the extra 800-feet of runway length can allow them to get stopped. It also allows a lot of larger twin aircraft and smaller jet aircraft to come into Jefferson that previously didn’t have the runway available. With say entertainers at the casino or companies around that manufacture things, they often have management that flies in or out, and the extra 800-feet makes it available to aircraft that can’t come in there now because your runway is just a little too short.”
The first phase of the road relocation project included installing culverts, cutting the new road bed and ditches. Next spring, the contractor will pave the new road. The road relocation project costs $563,897 and the expected completion date is July 1, 2020.