Rome-Floyd County Planning Director Sue Hiller has filed a Development of Regional Impact notice with the state for the proposed 1,000-foot extension of the main runway at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport.
The documents now
being reviewed by the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission indicate the
project is expected to be complete by July 1, 2018.
Paperwork filed on behalf of Floyd County
indicates the value of the runway extension will be $5.7 million.
Funding for the project is coming entirely out of special purpose, local
option sales tax funds.
Airport Manager Mike Mathews said engineering and
an environmental assessment are expected to take 12-18 months to
complete and if no problems are uncovered during those preliminary
studies, work could get underway sometime in 2016.
The documents claim the airport is expected to
generate additional revenue as a result of an increase in fuel sales at
the airport.
An extension of the main runway from 6,000 feet
to 7,000 feet is expected to enhance corporate traffic in and out of the
airport. Insurance underwriters for many of the corporate aircraft
require a 7,000 minimum for safety purposes.
The present runway weight limitation prevents aircraft significantly larger than those currently able to land at the airport.
The extension project is regarded as an economic
development project in the SPLOST package since the longer runway could
be attractive to bringing aircraft-related industry to the airport.
Story and photo: http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com
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