P.E.I. runway rehabilitation project underway

Final piece of three-year improvement program expected to cost $18 million

The Charlottetown Airport Authority started work on the rehabilitation of one of its runways last week.

This is the final piece of a three-year runway improvement program that started in 2016.

The runway will be closed to traffic later this week until November, and will only be available for aircraft taxiing. The exact date of this week’s closure has not yet been determined.

All traffic will use the newly extended Runway 10-28, and the authority does not anticipate any disruptions or delays to the flight schedule.

This is the largest infrastructure investment in the airport’s history and includes the rehabilitation of Runway 03-21 and connecting taxiways Alpha, Bravo and Charlie.

Major components of the work are grading and drainage improvements, storm water replacement, electrical replacement, and rehabilitation of the pavement structure.

The authority says the cost of this final piece of the three-year project is about $18 million.

Airport CEO Doug Newson said the project is required for safety reasons.

“Having stretched the life cycle of the runway through an aggressive maintenance program, this asset is now at the end of its useful life.”

The typical service life of a new pavement is 20 years. This runway was last fully reconstructed in 1987, and in 1999, the runway was rehabilitated by milling and paving.