Runway work set to begin in late February 2021
The city of Morgantown is days away from putting out bid documents for the first phase of construction on a runway extension project well over a decade in the making.
During a project kickoff meeting held remotely Wednesday, Dawn Spence, project manager for Michael Baker International, said the first bid advertisements will go out Monday.
She said physical construction on Phase I is set to begin Feb. 21 and last about 265 days.
The majority of that work will consist of erosion and sedimentation control, clearing and grubbing, structure removal and the construction of an airport perimeter road, among other efforts.
“So with that, we should be seeing a nice portion of this project underway and completed in just over a year from now,” Spence said.
The project will add 1,001 feet to the Morgantown Municipal Airport’s 5,199-foot runway. It’s expected to take five years and cost $50 million to complete.
The estimated 4.4 million cubic yards of dirt needed to support the extension will be cleared from the future site of a commerce park.
Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel said the extension will not only make the airport safer, but also allow it to better service its clients, such as WVU. For example, Vrabel said he would like to see additional use of the airport by WVU Athletics.
“This airport has the most aircraft operations in the state of West Virginia, making it the busiest airport in the state. We have the shortest commercial air carrier runway in the state as well,” Vrabel said.
The initial phase of construction has been made possible by just under $10 million in match-free grant funding awarded for the project in recent months.
“We’re hoping to complete this project within five to six years, but that’s going to be dependent on funding,” Interim City Manager Emily Muzzarelli said, later adding, “We’ve received nearly $10 million in funding this year to be able to take this first really large step. It’s been absolutely wonderful for all the folks involved to be able to make this happen, but we’re not at the end of the road yet.”
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