The Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission said Dec. 17 that 19 projects have been approved as part of the group’s 2010-2012 Capital Improvement Program.

The three-year Capital Improvement Program provides funding to Oklahoma airports for various capital needs, such as runway maintenance and construction; installation of navigational aids; land purchases; and installation and repair of airfield lights and signage.

“Investing in our state’s public airports is critical to ensuring that our citizens have access to a safe, reliable system of airports,” Aeronautics Commission Director Victor Bird said. “Those airports are economic lifelines for communities all across Oklahoma, providing local businesses with an efficient mode of travel with which to transact commerce. They also serve as lifelines for numerous individuals who rely on general aviation aircraft to transport them to hospitals and emergency care centers across the state and nation.”

Bird approved the proposed 2010-2012 CIP during their final regularly scheduled meeting for 2009.

According to state aviation officials, roughly half of the 30 projects included in the CIP are considered “big rock projects,” which means they are costly — usually more than $1 million, requiring both federal and state funding to complete — and results in a significant upgrade to an airport’s capabilities. Nearly $44 million in federal, state and local matches will be spent on the various projects throughout the three-year period.

RUNWAYS
Two of the planned projects contained in the CIP are runway extensions at both Alva Regional Airport and Thomas P. Stafford Airport in Weatherford. Once completed, both airports’ runways will be 5,100 feet in length, which would then be able to accommodate most business jet traffic.

A goal of the Aeronautics Commission is to construct jet-capable runways at all of Oklahoma’s regional business airports that meet aviation demand criteria as established by the Federal Aviation Administration. Currently, 41 of the state’s 49 regional business airports have jet-capable runways.

The CIP also includes funds for the construction of new, modern terminal buildings at four airports: Durant-Eaker Field, Grove Municipal Airport, Muskogee-Davis Field and Shawnee Regional Airport.

Airport projects planned under the Aeronautics Commission’s 2010-2012 CIP include:

• Alva Regional Airport - $1.2 million to relocate and extend runway 17/35.
• Ardmore Municipal Airport - $444,000 to rehabilitate the connecting taxiway to runway 13/31.
• Claremore Municipal Airport - $1 million to remove an earth obstruction at runway 35 end.
• Durant-Eaker Field - $550,000 to construct a new terminal building; $2.3 million to reconstruct the parallel taxiway system, improve the runway safety area and relocate runway edge lights.
• Enid-Woodring Regional Airport - $444,000 to seal coat runway 12/30 and parallel taxiway system.
• Grove Municipal Airport - $550,000 to construct a new terminal building.
• Guthrie-Edmond Regional Airport - $378,000 to construct a new taxi lane north of taxiway Delta for hangars; $369,000 to acquire land for future development; $990,000 for site preparation and taxi lane construction for hangar development; and $291,000 to acquire land for the future runway safety area and control land in the runway protection zone.
• Guymon Regional Airport - $480,000 to seal coat runway 18/36.
• Idabel-McCurtain County Regional Airport - $150,000 to enclose the terminal hangar and upgrade the terminal building.
• McAlester Regional Airport - $1.1 million to improve the runway safety area.
• Muskogee-David Field - $563,000 to remove deteriorated concrete shoulders along runway 4/22; $550,000 to construct a new terminal building; $3.4 million to overlay the parallel taxiway system to       runway 13/31.
• Norman-Max Westheimer Airport - $2.2 million to reconstruct taxiway south apron and $357,000 to install PAPIs on runway 17/35 and runway 3/21.
• Oklahoma City-Wiley Post Airport - $1.7 million to reconstruct taxiway C and C1, and $2.9 million to install an Instrument Landing System.
• Pauls Valley Municipal Airport - $2.7 million to construct the north portion of the parallel taxiway system.
• Sand Springs-William R. Pogue Airport - $3.4 million to rehabilitate runway 17/35, taxiways and fixed based operator apron, and construct  taxi lane.
• Shawnee Regional Airport - $550,000 to construct a new terminal building and $6 million to realign the parallel taxiway system, rehabilitate runway 17/35 and improve the runway safety area.
• Stillwater Regional Airport - $3.3 million to reconfigure center and north sections of the parallel taxiway system.
• Tulsa-Richard L. Jones Airport - $1.6 million to rehabilitate the taxiway and taxi lanes in the east hangar area and upgrade the electrical airfield system and signage.
• Weatherford-Thomas P. Stafford Airport - $1.8 million to extend runway 17 end as well as widen and light the parallel taxiway system.

The CIP is a guide to planning and programming of state and federal funds on airport development that works toward the goals of the Oklahoma Airport System Plan, a long-term view of the network of airports needed to adequately serve the state. The CIP allows the Federal Aviation Administration, Commission and airport sponsors to anticipate airport needs and accommodate changes in project scope, cost and schedule based on multi-year planning.

A project included in the CIP is not guaranteed future funding. Rather, it is an indication to the airport sponsor, which is typically the municipality where the airport is located, that its project is under consideration for future funding.