Repairing the runway at Lloydminster’s airport has been given the green light by city council. The city will be contracting Central City Asphalt of Blackfalds, Alta. to complete the Airport Runway Rehabilitation Project to the tune of $3,418,447.75 excluding GST.
Council has also approved a contingency allowance of 10 per cent in the amount of $341,884.76 excluding GST. The City applied for the funding which is being provided by the Airport Captial Assistance Program (ACAP), courtesy of Transport Canada. More than $5 million was approved for the upgrades. City councillor Aaron Buckingham believes
“The best part of this whole thing is that this has been a fully funded project from the federal government for something that’s going to improve our taxiways, the landing and take-off experience of anyone coming to and from Lloydminster, and in my opinion, perhaps even entice more investment into the local flight plan here,” says Buckingham.
The work will see cracks repaired on the runway space and a resurfacing of the runway with an asphalt concrete overlay. In order to receive the funding, the project will need to begin work soon; work is slated to begin July 29 and 14 days notice must be given to Transport Canada. The work will need to be fast, as the runway will remain open during the daytime.
“We’re going to keep the runways open during the day and the work and rehabilitation is going to be done between the hours of 5 p.m. and the next morning. Also, for safety reasons and everything else that goes along with it, contractors have to completely remove their equipment from there, sweep the runway, repaint the lines every night if they get destroyed, to make sure it complies with Transport Canada’s regulations” says Buckingham.
Mayor Gerald Aalbers had the chance to visit the Minister of Transportation’s office, and tried to ensure this approval could be granted as soon as possible. It was a priority for his administration to work out a deal to keep the airport’s services running while this work is being undertaken.
“That was very critical from administration’s perspective that information we shared tried not to affect the daily service we have with WestJet link, or anyone else,” says Aalbers. “It is challenging during the evenings, but most commercial flights are during the day.”
The City aims to finish the work by September 18.