Taxiway Construction To Begin Later This Summer

Red Oak Municipal Airport near Council Bluffs, Iowa, has received a grant worth nearly a quarter million dollars for construction of a new taxiway. The grant will pay for most of the grading, paving, and lighting required for the project.

The taxiway will be parallel to the airport's east-west crosswind runway, according the Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil. Red Oak Airport Manager Gail Ernst said the new taxiway will allow arriving aircraft to clear the active runway more efficiently. Red Oak serves mostly general aviation, but can handle light corporate jets.  Ernst said the new taxiway will make the airport more attractive to the business aviation community, as well as transient aircraft.

A previous grant allowed the airport to extend it's east-west runway, but pilots landing to the west had to turn around on the runway and taxi on the active back to the east to reach the ramp. The new taxiway will eliminate that problem, she said.

Ernst told the Nonpareil that she hopes the new taxiway will bring business to her airport, and to the city of Council Bluffs. “Once they land they are usually looking for fuel and they may stay in Red Oak to eat, shop or stay overnight,” Ernst said. “A good airport is like a front door to our community.”

FMI: http://www.city-data.com/airports/Red-Oak-Municipal-Airport-Red-Oak-Iowa.html