Warsaw Airport officials said they will seek to construct a tunnel along North CR 100E, which is one of the steps needed to allow the airport to use more of its existing 6,000-foot east-west runway.
The amount of runway pilots can use is limited by power lines and the existing road, and constructing a tunnel would be the best choice to resolve part of the challenge, said Nick King, manager of the airport.
King said the airport is committed to not closing the road and that a tunnel is the best option.
Aside from the tunnel, the next option would have been re-routing the road.
Cost of the tunnel remains uncertain, but 90 percent would be covered by the federal government.
Preliminary cost estimates are somewhere between $10 million and $13 million, King said.
The airport will now work on an environmental study to look at all of the possible impacts involving a tunnel.
Construction of the tunnel, if approved, is still years away.
Confirmation that the airport prefers construction of a tunnel arose during Tuesday’s aviation board meeting, which included positive developments for several projects.
The overarching goal is to extend the amount of runway pilots can use when landing.
Right now, when pilots seek to land coming from the east and headed west, there is 900 feet on the eastern end of the runway that cannot be used because of power lines and the road.
In low visibility conditions when pilots use their instrument landing system, the amount of runway that can be used is reduced to 4,100 feet.
Meanwhile, Warsaw Airport officials said they’re getting strong signals of support from the Federal Aviation Administration over plans to lower the power lines and rehabilitate the north-south runway.
In fact, King said that under a best-case scenario that funding could be received next year to lower power lines and make improvements to the north-south runway.
The new-found optimism came after two recent conference calls with FAA officials.
“We were hearing the things we wanted to hear – a willingness to work with us on how to keep moving,” said Ken Ross, a consultant for the airport.
