By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – The runway at Fairchild Airport in Port Angeles is about to get an extreme makeover, but it won’t slow down plane traffic in most cases.
That’s the word from Airport Manager Jon Picker, who says 5,000 feet of the 6,000-foot runway is going to be repaved starting this week, but only one half at a time.
“So, the airport is going to be open pretty much for the entire event. We’re going to keep 2,500 feet of the runway open, and then there’ll be a point after about a month where operations are going to shift to the other end of the runway, and then we’re going to use the crosswind runway. So, we’re just going to manage pavement while the whole process is happening.”
Picker says most of Fairchild’s plane traffic can take off and land on 2,500 feet of runway.
Lakeside industries will begin the process by milling the top few inches of pavement before adding the new surface. Picker says they’ll be upgrading the runway lighting this summer as well.
The first phase of paving will take about 30 days to complete, and the second phase will take about 40 days. They will also need two weeks to get the lighting replaced, taking the entire scope of the project to the end of September, with only three days of actual airport closures needed in that three month period.
As for the major users of the airport, Picker says FedEx, UPS, Life Flight and Rite Bros will all be operating as usual. He may have even dropped a little hint about Dash Air into the conversation.
“Yeah, I think the message I want to convey is that this is not going to be intrusive to the general public. You know, you’ll see some truck activity at the airport. It’s not going to be bringing up noise levels to the point that it’s beyond what normal air traffic looks like. I just want people to feel like it’s business as normal. So, airplanes are going to still be able to come and go. People are going to be able to fly out of Fairchild like they have in the past. And, hopefully, we’re going to have a new air service providing transportation to folks to the Seattle area.”
(Photo: Tom Roorda)