Colorado City, AZ – Exciting improvements are underway at the Colorado City Municipal Airport. Construction of a new parallel taxiway is set to begin on March 25 and is scheduled to be completed by early June. The completion of this project will mark many years of hard work and planning by city and airport leaders. The Town of Colorado City acquired land in 2018 and 2020 to make this project possible, and an 1,800-foot portion of the taxiway was completed last year on the eastern side of the airport. Just last month, a fencing project was finished to surround the entire airport property with a fence that is 8 feet tall and 4 feet underground to keep wildlife from jumping, walking, or digging their way into the airport. Each of these projects has helped set the stage for the new taxiway.
When the project is completed in June, there will be a parallel taxiway for the full length of the main runway (Runway 11/29) at the airport. Since the airport was originally built in the early 1990s, airplanes have had to taxi on the runway at low speeds before taking off or after landing. Having the full-length taxiway will significantly improve safety and efficiency for airport users, especially at night or in cloudy weather, because the slow-moving taxiing aircraft will be out of the way of airplanes that need to land or takeoff. The steady increase in use of the airport by locals, visitors, and regional trainer pilots has made this taxiway more needed than ever.
This last portion of the taxiway will be built on the western side of the airport and will be 3,650 feet long and 35 feet wide. A “bypass taxiway” will also be built as a second connection to the runway end to help airplanes turn around and for airplanes to pass by each other when two airplanes are at the same runway end at the same time. The asphalt will be 4 inches thick and will be built on 10 inches of base course gravel, ensuring durability and long-term performance.
As with the eastern part of the taxiway that was built last year, the new taxiway will be lined on both sides with blue lights. These will be LED lights to help with energy efficiency and maintenance costs. Pilots can turn the airfield lights on with their radios, so they will only be on when someone needs them.
Airport construction requires standards that are much higher than those used for roadways or parking lots. For example, any given point on the completed asphalt will be within one-half of an inch from the elevation that the engineers designed on their computers. Even for low-speed taxiways, the pavement must be very flat and smooth so that aircraft can operate safely. That kind of precision in pavement construction requires construction crews to have significant skill and attention to detail.
As with roadway construction, there will be temporary disruptions for airport users during construction to keep both them and construction crews safe. Airport users can expect one of the two runways to be open at any given time during construction. Runway 11/29 will be closed for two weeks at the beginning of construction, during which all aircraft operations will shift to Runway 2/20. During the second week of April, the closures will swap, with Runway 2/20 closing while Runway 11/29 will reopen with a usable length of 5,520 feet. Moving the Runway 11 threshold by 780 feet will allow construction crews to work safely at the runway end. In early June, the runway closures will swap back for three days for some final work next to the main runway. Finally, in the second week of June, both runways will be fully opened, and the new taxiway will be operational. Airport users are advised to regularly check for published NOTAMs to stay up with current closures.
The total cost for this western portion of the taxiway construction is $2.9 million. Approximately 91% of the project costs are covered by a grant from the FAA that Colorado City secured through a competitive process in Federal Fiscal Year 2024. The Arizona Department of Transportation has provided an additional grant to cover 4.5% of the costs, leaving the Town of Colorado City responsible for 4.5% of the total project costs out-of-pocket.
The Colorado City airport is designed to handle everything from very small experimental aircraft through midsize business jets. While the taxiway construction will not change the kinds of aircraft that can use the airport, it will make for a better experience for those that already do. City leaders, ADOT, FAA, and other partners have heavily invested time and money over many years to prepare for this project. Its completion reflects their lasting commitment to our community and stands as a testament to their shared vision for the airport’s future. This project will solidify the airport’s reputation as a hidden gem among the flying community and strengthen its role as an economic driver in our Short Creek community. It will help the airport continue to be an important asset for all of us.
Information for this article was provided by Dane Hurst, PE of Woolpert Consulting.
