Work progressing on projects that will change the face of Lawton airport

Projects that will change the face of Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport are proceeding, the airport’s governing board said Tuesday.

That work includes a taxiway rebuild and the last months of a terminal modernization project.

Airport Director Barbara McNally said construction is expected to be completed April 1-2, 2025, on the third phase of the terminal modernization work: upgrades to the carrier ticketing counter area, TSA baggage screening area and the terminal’s front entrance. McNally said contractors have 189 days left on their contract, with crews from Herring Construction now roughing in the ticketing area and installing sheetrock. That work has forced a change for drivers passing the terminal and those waiting to pick up passengers, because traffic is limited to one lane and a wait area has been set for vehicles as contractors work inside and outside the terminal.

The road itself will be part of the upgrade, with City of Lawton making plans to repair King Road, the major access and exit point for traffic into and out of the airport complex. City officials have said that road work will be done when the terminal upgrade is complete.

Herring Construction won the $15.3 million construction project in 2022, completing the biggest portion of the project — expanding the secured passenger holding area and access points and adding a covered boarding gate — earlier this year, before construction began on the terminal’s north side. That last work will include renovations at the front entrance, which will change the looks of the terminal while also making it more energy efficient by eliminating some doors.

As that work moves closer to completion, the airport has begun gearing up for two new outdoor projects.

McNally said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has allocated a grant to the airport to fund designs that will change the configuration of Taxiway F, a short taxiway on the north end of the airport that links Taxiway A (the primary taxiway) to the runway. Areas of concrete on Taxiway F are deteriorating and the FAA has recommended new pavement.

The City Council accepted an FAA grant for design work earlier this month, which means analysis can begin. McNally said a geotechnical survey crew is expected at the airport next week to begin boring into the soil around the taxiway, to analyze the soil and provide data for designs.

McNally said the taxiway is necessary for larger aircraft, but its concrete pavement is so weak, it is weight-restricted. The proposed solution would straighten Taxiway F to align with Taxiway A, while eliminating two shorter taxiways. A related project would expand the concrete apron on the airport’s north end so it is wide enough to park two wide-bodied aircraft, rather than only one.

In addition to that taxiway project, design and analysis teams have been in and out of the airport for weeks for evaluation work required before construction begins on a new airport control tower.

That project will give the airport a new control tower, one located south of the existing one but still on the west side of the runway between the runway and South Sheridan Road. The FAA notified the airport that it would receive a new tower, with the FAA to cover the complete cost of the project. McNally said that not only is the project giving Lawton a modern control tower, the structure will be taller than the existing tower, meaning personnel will have a clear view of all aircraft on the runway.

Now, because of the slope in the landscape, it isn’t possible to see aircraft parked on the far south end of the runway, she said.

Tower construction is expected to begin in Summer 2025.