Atkinson Municipal Airport Marks Completion of Taxiway Reconstruction Projects Funded Mostly by FAA Grant
Why It MattersFederal grant money continues to flow into small general aviation airfields, where taxiway upgrades improve operating flow and make them more usable for itinerant and business aircraft.
A celebration was held to mark the completion of reconstruction projects at Atkinson Municipal Airport. The work covered a partial parallel taxiway, a city hangar taxi lane, and crack repair and surface treatment on a connector taxiway. Most of the funding came from an FAA grant of more than $2 million.
Airport Board President David Wyckoff said part of the funding was used to tie in a taxiway so aircraft no longer have to back-taxi. Pilots can now taxi down the taxiway, perform their runup and take off, and planes will not have to wait on one another. Pilot Jet Jernigan said the airport now has a quality runway and taxiways as well as approaches, noting that aircraft can fly down to minimum altitudes as at larger airports.
Further improvements are planned, including a new parallel taxiway and upgrades to the terminal building.
