Lawton airport moving forward with taxiway engineering plans

Officials at Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport are proceeding with engineering plans for a project to realign a taxiway, even if they don’t yet have a construction start date in mind.

The project, identified as a priority by the Federal Aviation Administration, will rebuild Taxiway F on the north end of the airport complex. That taxiway, which links the airport’s primary taxiway (Taxiway A) to its runway, has patches of deteriorating concrete and the FAA has directed new pavement be placed. While Taxiway F is needed for larger aircraft that land at Lawton (including military aircraft), most cannot use it because of weight restrictions implemented because of deteriorating concrete, airport officials said.

The preliminary engineering report is the first step in the process to rebuild that taxiway, and the work is slated to be completed by the end of March, said Airport Director Barbara McNally. Completion means airport officials will have the estimated details they need, “what it will cost us, and what we’re looking for in the taxiway reconstruction and apron,” McNally said. She anticipates having those details ready for discussion at the March meeting of the airport’s governing board, set at month’s end.

Airport officials don’t yet know when the project will begin because they still are identifying funds to cover the cost — beyond what the FAA already has allocated. The project is expected to include work to straighten out Taxiway F to align with Taxiway A, and eliminate two shorter taxiways.

That taxiway work will be the next major update for the airport. It will replace a terminal modernization project that is beginning to wind down as crews with Herring Construction complete work that in recent months has focused on the main entrance and the tenant area on the north end of the terminal, where TSA baggage screening and the American Eagle/Envoy ticket area is located.

McNally said the contractor still is looking at substantial completion by April.

“Nothing has changed,” she said, of the $15.3 million project.

Members of the Lawton Metropolitan Area Airport Authority also are preparing for another new project that will be more analytical than physical.

An Air Services Development Grant will cover the cost of an analysis of air travel into and out of the Lawton airport, with an eye toward providing the data officials will need to decide if they want to seek a second air carrier.

McNally said delaying the start date of that analysis until May means the most recent passenger numbers for that analysis should be available. Ward 5 Councilman/airport authority member Allan Hampton said he hopes those numbers also are ready for community leaders participating in the D.C. Fly-In in late March, an annual visit community members make to Washington, D.C., to talk to legislators about issues important to Lawton and Southwest Oklahoma.