A new $4.3 million taxiway is coming to the Auburn University Regional Airport.

Airport director William Hutto told the Opelika-Auburn News that the new runway, which is expected to be completed in roughly six months, will be capable of handling 75,000 pounds (34019.4 kilograms).The existing taxiway is too close to the runway and is not stressed to handle the weight of aircraft at the airport.

“We’ve got to move that taxiway further away from the runway” for the airport to meet the Federal Aviation Administration safety standards, Hutto said.

Hutto said the taxiway project is 90 percent funded by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The state is funding 5 percent, while the remaining 5 percent is consistent of equal contributions from the airport’s three local partners.

The old terminal building was built in 1950. It’s a one-story facility with an upper deck on the second level.

Hutto said the walls and the roof of the building leaked.

In time, the building had become too small for the Auburn University Aviation Center’s needs.

“Anybody that has ever changed houses after living there a while knows that it’s difficult (because) you find stuff and things accumulate over the years,” Hutto said.

“But, obviously, there is a lot of history over there; a little bit of nostalgia because a lot of fine people have earned their wings over there, and it’s been a part of our community for a number of years. So we have to go through this project with respect for the past but looking toward the future.”

Students will be working from portable office trailers throughout the fall semester until the construction of the anticipated Delta Air Lines Aviation Education building.

The project is valued at $10 million.

(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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