XNA looking at road money options

Airplanes sit at the gate on Thursday March 3, 2016 at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill.
Airplanes sit at the gate on Thursday March 3, 2016 at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill.

HIGHFILL -- Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport officials met with regional Federal Aviation Administration representatives and plan to talk to officials in Washington later this month about the proposed airport access road.

The environmental division of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department last year asked airport officials to look at the option of using existing roads, specifically Arkansas 112 after it's widened into a main corridor, and Arkansas 264, rather than building a road to the airport.

Airport officials prefer to build a limited access road from the U.S. 412 Northern Bypass to the airport. They say diverting airport money to state highway improvements could prove problematic with the FAA.

"I'm trying to get this back to an airport project, not a state highway project," Scott Van Laningham, executive director, told the airport board's Operations Committee on Wednesday. "All we're doing is building our big driveway back to their controlled access and interstate-quality highway."

Turning Arkansas 112 into a major north-south corridor could be a decade or more away. Airport officials have been wanting an access road for more than a decade. The latest timeline from consultants would have the access road open in early 2020.

Current models for the access road, estimated to cost about $55 million, assume two lanes initially from the airport to the U.S. 412 Northern Bypass. Money would include $10 million in airport cash, $12 million remaining from federal grants, $33 million in bonds and a $1 access toll that is expected to generate about $1 million a year.

The committee recommended getting moving on design and engineering for a couple of projects in case the new presidential administration comes up with an infrastructure spending initiative for highways, bridges and airports. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to invest $1 trillion in transportation and infrastructure spending but has not provided details, according to news reports.

Regional airport projects include a taxiway rehabilitation project and gate expansion, and possibly a second concourse.

"We've got to do it anyway," said Kelly Johnson, airport director.

"We need to get them on the shelf so the project is shovel-ready in case there's a new infrastructure package in the incoming administration," Van Laningham said. "Again, that's if there's an infrastructure package at the end of the year and airports are included."

The committee also recommended moving valet parking from the front door to either end of the terminal and awarding a contract to Tomlinson Asphalt to expand the employee parking lot.

NW News on 01/19/2017

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