St. Cloud City Council is expected to take action Monday night on a resolution declaring the city’s intent to accept a $3 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration that would fund about 90 percent of the runway extension.
The project, which also includes the extension of the taxiway and additional lighting, is an effort to improve safety aspects at the airport and possibly attract new airlines.
“It’s really a safety piece. Anytime an airplane is landing or taking off, they want as much runway as possible,” said Bill Towle, airport director. “Especially in our environment up north where there is rain and snow and ice, additional runway length will make it safer.”
Airplanes are being designed larger and more powerful than ever before and require increasingly longer runways, Towle said, noting when the airport was built in 1970, airplanes such as the Boeing 737-800 or McDonnell Douglas MD-80 didn’t exist.
While airport officials are currently not in talks with any airline companies regarding additional service in St. Cloud, the runway extension could make the airport more appealing to airlines.
“It makes it where we could handle larger and faster airplanes. Which ones? It really depends on the performance of them,” he said. “(The extension) will certainly allow us to go out and talk to more airlines. If we’re looking to attract (airlines) to St. Cloud, this will have more capabilities for more airplanes.”
St. Cloud’s airport has two runways; the main runway is 7,000 by 150 feet, and the second runway is 3,000 by 75 feet. A major reconstruction to the main runway and its parallel taxiway was completed in 2001, with the local share of the project funded by local-option sales tax revenue.
Planes currently flying in and out of St. Cloud Regional Airport are the Allegiant Airbus A319, which has 156 seats, and the Sun Country Boeing 737-800, which has between 162 and 174 seats.
Allegiant provides service to Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona. Sun Country provides service to Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport in Arizona, as a chartered airplane for Riverside Resorts in Laughlin, Nevada.
United Airlines, which previously provided flights to Chicago, discontinued service at the airport in February.
If the FAA grant is accepted, it would provide about $3 million for the project. The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s aeronautics office has committed to pay for 5 percent of project costs, about $169,000.
The city is required to pay the remaining 5 percent ($169,000) of project costs.
City Council approved at its July 27 meeting the low bid on the project from S.M. Hentges & Sons of Jordan, contingent upon receiving state and federal funds. The bid of $3.65 million includes a base bid of about $2.14 million for runway construction, a base bid of about $271,000 for additional lighting of the extended runway, and an alternate bid of $1.23 million for the extension of the taxiway parallel to the main runway.
Source: http://www.sctimes.com
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