Drivers who have been waiting for a local roadway to re-open for more than a year can celebrate today.
Airport Loop Road is back open to the public at-large and no longer limited to just residential traffic only after more than a year spent closed to allow for the continued work on the runway extension to move on without any issues.
“We tried to get it open before the end of the month, and they were able to get it done,” Beavers said.
The land build-up is completed to allow for the runway extension of 1,000 feet to now go to the next phase, which will be construction of the runway surface itself.
Beavers said that the current phase of laying down the gravel needed to act as a base for asphalt is underway, but is being hampered by recent weather conditions.
Once the asphalt layer is put down over the gravel and the surface leveled out, then temporary markings on the runway will be painted on before they become permanent. Beavers said the grassing of the slopes will also be happening shortly, and expects the whole of the project to be completed in a mid-May to June timeframe.
He apologized to those drivers who have been inconvenienced by the closing of Airport Loop Road for so long, but that it was a safety precaution for the public.
To get the large amount of dirt needed to extend Cornelius Moore Field out to 5,000 feet, much of the work that has been done is building up the site with dump truck loads of soil, which required daily operations on the road of trucks that would have made it impossible for thru-traffic to pass on Airport Loop Road without issue.
You can find a conversation from last year on Talking Points on Polk.Today with Beavers on the airport project.
Check back for updates on the project as they become available.
