Marshfield Municipal Airport (KGHG), Massachusetts

Marshfield airport to close for three months starting in March

MARSHFIELD —

Dozens of pilots who keep their planes at Marshfield Municipal Airport are making alternative arrangements in preparation for a three-month closure resulting from the ongoing $15.34 million improvement and expansion project.

Ann Pollard, the airport’s operations manager, said the airport, which is also known as George Harlow Field, is expected to shut down for fixed-wing flight operations beginning March 1 and reopen around June 1. About 45 planes are based at the airport.

“Some aircraft will remain here, but won’t be used, and others are relocating to neighboring airports, mostly Plymouth and Norwood,” said Pollard. “We worked to help put (pilots) in contact with the appropriate people and work out the logistics.”

All helicopter operations will continue at the airport, since they don’t rely on the taxiway or runway for taking off and landing.

The project will widen the runway, extend it by 300 feet, shift it 190 feet west of the current surface and add 300-foot paved safety buffers at each end. The taxiways will be widened by 5 feet. Work began in October and is expected to take less than a year.

In August, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it would provide an $11.34 million grant for improvements to the town-owned airport, which is managed by Shoreline Aviation. The state pitched in $1.4 million, and voters at a special town meeting in November 2011 approved $200,000 more.

Pollard said the closure hasn’t come as a surprise to pilots who use the airport, since the project has been in the works for more than a decade.

“In some cases, airports can close just the runway that’s being worked on and still remain operational, but we only have one runway and it’s being reconstructed, so there’s no way around it,” she said. “It’s challenging for businesses and tenants, but ultimately everyone is looking forward to having a safer airport in the end.”

Pollard said the Federal Aviation Administration will issue a notice to pilots regarding the closure, and pilots who call to get weather briefings will be notified.

Source:    http://www.patriotledger.com