Lawton airport exploring plans for new taxiway upgrades

Officials at Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport are exploring a new taxiway pavement project that is being recommended by the Federal Aviation Administration.

That proposal comes as Herring Construction crews are well into the final stage of the airport terminal renovation project, work that is one of the last components of the airport’s master plan.

Airport Director Barbara McNally said Herring Construction has about 250 work days left on its 822-day construction timeline in what is identified as Phase III. Work includes building a new secured passenger holding area with covered walkway, wider screening areas for TSA, and — now — work to renovate the airline ticket counter area on the north end of the terminal and moving TSA baggage screening equipment out of public view. Those final two projects are well underway and are notable by the fact traffic lanes in front of the terminal have been narrowed to one to give crews work space.

McNally said contractors are estimating an April 2, 2025, completion date for the entire terminal upgrade.

Completion of the terminal and other high-profile projects had airport officials taking about updating the facility’s master plan, setting a new list of projects to be completed in the next 25 years. McNally said she and airport engineers went to Fort Worth recently to talk to the FAA about future projects.

“They recommended we hold off,” she said, explaining while most of the projects in the existing plan have been completed or are in progress, FAA officials said there are some areas of concrete on taxiways that need to be analyzed.

That is especially true of Taxiway F, the taxiway on the north end of the airport complex that directly links Taxiway A (the major taxiway) to the runway. There are areas of concrete on Taxiway F that are deteriorating — McNally called that pavement the weakest section of the airport pavement, meaning it also has been weight-restricted. But Taxiway F is needed for the larger aircraft that land at the airport, meaning it is the most significant pavement project the airport has, she said.

The proposal being explored would straighten out Taxiway F so it aligns with Taxiway A, a proposal that then would eliminate two shorter taxiways because they would be redundant. McNally said they won’t be closed immediately, but the FAA has said it will no longer provide funding to support repairs there.

McNally said the plan for now is to craft preliminary engineering designs and “start knocking on doors in Washington” to identify funding. The airport has a solid argument for the project.

“Our airport supports Fort Sill,” she said, of military aircraft that often land at the civilian airport, adding Taxiway F is needed by the “big birds” the military often brings to the airport.

A related project would be to expand the concrete apron on the airport’s north end, so it is wide enough to park two wide bodies. That area now is big enough for only one wide body aircraft.