City of Redding Podcast
City of Redding Podcast
Cleared for Takeoff: The Runway Rehabilitation Project at Redding Regional Airport
Redding Regional Airport applied for funding two years ago and just received more than $24 million in federal funding to completely rehabilitate its main runway—a critical project for both travelers and the community.
In this episode, Katie and Steve sit down with Airport Manager Andrew Solsvig to discuss why now is the ideal time for this investment, what upgrades are planned, and how the project will ensure the airport remains safe, reliable, and prepared for everything from commercial flights to wildfire-fighting air tankers.
Learn more about the Runway Rehabilitation Project >>
Contact the City of Redding Podcast Team
- Email us at podcast@cityofredding.org
- Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
- Visit the City of Redding website
Love the podcast? The best way to spread the word is to rate and review!
I'm Katie.
Steve:And I'm Stephen. This City of Redding Today we're talking about something that may not be top of mind when you fly in or out of the Redding Regional Airport, but it's absolutely essential. The runway itself. The airport recently secured more than $24 million in federal funding to completely rehabilitate the main runway, which is reaching the end of its useful life.
Katie:Outside of business trips and family The Redding airport plays a critical role during wildfire season, serving as a base for firefighting aircraft. So the timing of this project and how it's managed alongside fire season matters to the entire community.
Steve:Joining us today is airport manager Andrew who will walk us through what's being done, why now is the right time and how this project will keep Redding Regional Airport safe, reliable and ready for the future.
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:Andrew Solsvig, Airports Manager with the Great.
Steve:Thanks so much for joining us today, We are here to talk about the upcoming Redding Airport runway rehabilitation project. It's approaching quickly and wanted to dive deep into it as to how we got to where we are now, why it's happening, what that might look like for community members trying to fly in and out of reading, and really what that means for the long term success of the airports. So maybe we could just start with a little bit of history as to what exactly is the rehabilitation project, what's being upgraded, and why is it so critical to do now?
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:That's a great question. I believe the project started about four years ago, and I'm just coming up on my year one anniversary, which I'm excited about, but they started finding some undulations in the runway, which are these little waves in the pavement, but they were longitudinal, so it wasn't affecting aircraft landing per se. However, it did start the concern as we go through the seasons with the heat flow and water and freezing and thawing, etc., it just slowly causes damage to runway pavements and so as a result, with these undulations. What could happen at some point is things will start to break away, the pavement surfaces could break away, and then it would cause a shutdown of the runway until it's fixed. So really this is a preventive maintenance measure to fix the runway. We're not replacing the whole runway. It's just the top surface area. So we're going to do what's called mill infill. We're going to mill down about 4 or 5in and then fill that in with new asphalt so that it'll be in good condition for long term. So that's really why we need to do it and made it such a high priority making this project happen.
Katie:And Andrew, when you say long term what are
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:Typically a runway or taxi project has a Not sure if this fix will make it last another 20 years, but it's going to at least last a while, I'll maybe somewhere between 10 to 20 years, hopefully longer, and just makes sure our maintenance is kept up with the conditions. It's for safety purposes of aircraft landing and taking off.
Steve:And Andrew, you mentioned that the runway How does that process work? Because the scope of our airport is this an FAA safety check. And they do periodic checks and we'll go through the the quality of the runway, because that's you and your team doing regular inspections. And come across this in partnership with the FAA and have gone through this process of beginning this project. I'm just curious on the topic of runway safety. How does that whole piece of it work?
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:It's a great question. It's a little complex. Airport operations monitors daily activity. And so when we're performing the inspections, taking a look at things, replacing signs, lights as things break for various reasons, we take care of those things. And so as they got noticed we do hire consultants, engineering firms, or you have other folks that can take a look at it and we're quite sure what was going on. Thought maybe it was a subbase issue at first. And so there was core sampling done at one point, found out that the subbase was in good condition. It was more surface level, and again, it had to do with water seepage, getting in cracks, and just getting deep enough to cause the asphalt even flow through. When you look at winter and summer, we have very high heat, and then the winter you potentially having freezing conditions, right? So that can cause damage. And as a result of that, it's really us recommending to the FAA saying, hey, we have priority projects. And that is identified on what's called our airport capital improvement program. It's really a 5 to 10 year program that is outlined with the FAA of determining what your priority projects are going to be, and the way the FAA looks at it is the highest priority is runway. Then you work your way out from there. So the next one would be taxiways and safety areas. And then from there you get aprons. And after that you get potentially terminal buildings or other things that qualify. So the FAA has a ranking system. And the runway project did become a higher priority than some other things, because we have plenty of work to do over the years. And fortunately, because of the users of the airport and aviation industry, tax dollars go into a pot in Washington, DC, and then those funds are distributed regionally to help with airport infrastructure projects and needs. Because our operations here are anything from cargo, commercial airlines, general aviation. There's such a wide variety of users for Or airports, which brings in a lot of economic benefit to the community. And anyway, so it's really about safety from the FAA's viewpoint. And then we just monitor it every day to make sure conditions are good. And then we identify when there's issues and what needs to be done about it.
Katie:Obviously, Andrew shutting down a runway is a It's going to have a lot of impacts for the city and for the airport and for the vendors who are there at the airport. So what made the decision to shut it down in this particular time of year? We've heard some concerns about fire season being shut down in October. So maybe you can tell us the dates that it's going to be closed and talk about the closure just a little bit, and then we can go into discussing why that was chosen as the prime time to get it done.
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:A lot in that question, We understand the operational impacts it has on a variety of levels, and it really comes down to looking at a project of what makes sense. Really, the two options that they were considering two years ago, that doesn't make sense to just shut down the runway and try to get it all done within 30 days. Or the other option would be you. You kind of face things you have to do night work. And so what that would do is if we were to do only night work and then have to open it back up every day, you might be talking a four month project rather than 28 days is what we have for hours, and it could be even longer. It just doesn't make financial sense to extend it that long. With all of the mobilization, all the other details that are involved. And so although it's a significant impact to operations, shutting it down really does make the most sense because they get all done as quickly as possible, get everything fixed. And so what was decided. Was looking at the calendar year. When does it make you have to consider winter season and rain season? I know we have fire season, but there are other fire bases in the area like Chico being a pretty major one. There are other airports where they can still operate, and October was really chosen because it seemed throughout the year. You're away from the busy summer season of travel. People are back in school in the fall and it's at the tail end of fire season. And so in talking with those stakeholders, they thought that would be fitting for them as well. They can move some of their fixed wing aircraft. The other thing is, especially with the helicopters, we will still have helicopter operations. They can land and take off in small areas so they don't need the runway. We will have those resources available should something occur in the area. And if you think about it from flight time. Chico is really only about 10 to 12 minutes. It's not a huge significant difference from a response level. And so they felt comfortable with that as well. When we're looking at the exact dates, the runway will be closed down beginning September 23rd, and then we'll remain closed until October 20th. Now there is a little piece because we do have a crosswind runway, which is about 5000ft in length, and that's going to stay open for most of the project. So smaller general aviation aircraft will be able to use the crosswind runway while we're working on both ends of the runway, working toward the middle. And we anticipate both runways to be closed between October 10th to October 16th. And we're working with our tenants to relocate aircraft or other things just so that they're aware they won't be able to use anything or either runway during that period of time. And so, for example, like our cargo operator is going to shift over to Benton for that week, which is great for them. Be interesting little exercise. And once we get things back opened up for that crosswind, then they'll be able to resume operations. But that's really there's a lot of decisions, a lot of information to consider when making those tough decisions. But we thought this was the best approach.
Steve:Andrew, with regard to the 28 day closure, the commercial airlines? I know United in Alaska regularly. They fly out of Redding and I'm sure that this impacts their business as well.
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:Yeah, it really does. It's a significant We're going to be losing a lot of revenue during that month unfortunately, but it's really just coordinating communicating with them. Airlines deal with airports across the nation. So this is not new to them. It's really about adjusting their aircraft and crew accrue to other locations or just making adjustments in their own network schedule. You have to think about the bigger network. It's not just Redding or other airports that they're flying to. They look at the the bigger picture of things. And so it was actually easier than I thought it was going to be. They just need to know well in advance, preferably four months. I think we got closer to three months to make that final decision. But it all worked out and they're able to work it with the schedule and hinder.
Steve:Is there worry that community members will time, and maybe choose not to come back to RTD? I mean, sounds like we don't really have a choice, and that's just a risk we have to take on this front with regard to the project.
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:You're right. They really don't have a to use Medford, Sacramento or airports in the Bay area, and it is an inconvenience. We do believe people will come back when you think about the drives to both locations. That's a lot of time there and back. And where the convenience of Redding having people use the airport, it's just convenience. And that's what we'll get those flights back and people will be using them once again, and everything will be back to normal in a short period of time.
Katie:And I imagine if the airport is taking the repave the runway, that there are going to be some upgrades that are made as well. Can you talk about some exciting things that are coming as part of this project that we wouldn't have otherwise?
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:I'm glad you asked that. Is that just the runway project we're doing? We're doing a resurfacing of it, but we have some other things in place. We're doing some safety area improvements. We are replacing all the runway lights with new LED lights, and that will be great. They're going to be more energy efficient. And then also all of the airfield signage we have out there, which through the past decades. We got various kinds, so they're getting all replaced, which is just a great addition to the project. The other thing that we have is so as things shift, getting a little technical here, we have what's called a magnetic variation. And so the numbers on a runway will be changing based on the magnetic variation of the Earth. And then we're also making some adjustments to taxiways to more coincide with our airport master plan. And so there'll be some changes that the local tenants will need to become familiar with, as the signage will be different and the taxiway, a couple of taxiways will be labeled differently.
Katie:You mentioned a little earlier about how FAA and it all goes to DC and then gets funneled out to various regional airport projects. But can you talk about how this project was funded? Is it entirely funded by the FAA? Is there any city match that goes along with the construction? And maybe you can touch just a little bit on the timeline for the funding, because there was a little bit of a delay in the city getting those funds.
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:A little bit of a hiccup. Yes. So good news. Okay. This project is about 29.4 million in total, includes engineering fees and some other costs. But we are fortunate. Typically, federal grants will cover anywhere between 90 to 95% of a big project like this. Fortunately, we have 95% coverage on this. And when you look at the breakout, just under 28 million is coming from the federal share. And how that's broken out is there is what's called AIP or Airport Improvement Program entitlement funds, of which Redding gets 1.5 million a year to help support various projects. So we've been accumulating those for the last 2 or 3 years. And then there's a large portion which is discretionary, and then there's a local match of approximately just a little bit under 1.5 million. So where's that local match come from? Well, fortunately we're not using any local tax dollars. Nothing is coming out of the city general fund. It is borrowing some money from the city, but it gets paid back through what's called passenger facility charge. And so when people buy a ticket, there's a little tax on there, which is called TFC pass or facility charge. And then that goes into the bucket. And so we have to, as an airport, identify various projects of what is PFC eligible and then make an argument to the airline because the airline has to approve it and then the feds approve it or the FAA. And so we've identified this as one of those projects that will get reimbursed. So it's yeah, it's great to be able to do that and get the funding. As far as what happened last year, we're not entirely sure. We are hopeful the project was going to happen and the city was going to get the grant. For some reason, the money just wasn't there and they weren't able to move forward with it and so delayed everything. Another year, we were very fortunate to have contractors that were willing to hold their bid for a year and see if we could get a grant. This time around, there was a big push a couple months ago to really work with the FAA, work with our congressional delegates and all of our partners, really to get things in place to move forward as quickly as possible. And that happened.
Steve:Okay. Awesome. I wonder and I'm curious, the process to secure those funds, maybe a, I don't know, a silver lining to this project or maybe an additional benefit. Have you found that there are any lessons from securing that funding, and from navigating that process that you think might help with additional infrastructure upgrades down the road, whether that's the terminal expansion or other needs that the airport may have. Now that you've navigated this process for this rehabilitation runway project specifically, do you think that sets us up well for success down the road when inevitably additional airport enhancements are needed?
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:Well, the challenge is the district or the We have ten years of infrastructure projects that are in the tens of millions of dollars that are needed. And so as we work through our capital improvement program, which was just recently updated, in fact, we're meeting with the FAA next week about it is looking at that list and the FAA, they have to look at all of the various airports in their region and who needs what kind of money, because there's only a certain amount that goes to each region. And I'm just going to throw out a number. Let's just say it's $50 million for this region and there's 20 different airports. So the FAA has to determine out of those 20 different airports who's getting how much money you got to spread out that 50 million among 20 airports? Well, you're not all going to equally get. Let's say there's 25 airports. You could get 2 million, right? That's pretty pretty easy math. Well, it doesn't really work like that. So let's say out of the 50 million now because of the discretionary money Redding is getting, let's say it's 23 million. That takes a big chunk of funds that other airports will not be able to access. So what the FAA likes to do is say, okay, we're giving you a large amount of money. Now you have another big project coming up. We may need to bump that a year or two in order to sequence for when you can get the amount that's going to be needed for that project. And so that's the challenge in working with the FAA and the funding ability for why sometimes projects get delayed while they get bumped out what you can and cannot do sometimes. So we're looking at next year of just taking care of some very small item projects that we need. We still had our master list, but it's going to be a couple of years before we can do the next new one. And then you have to look at also there's design involved, environmental review and compliance and then start the project. So when you look at a picture of a project at the earliest, it would be maybe two years. Typically it's three from beginning to end.
Katie:Andrew, is there any reason to think that with potentially some new LED lights and some new signage and new fancy things that we might be looked at more favorably in the future by other airlines to potentially get more flights coming our way.
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:It's a great question. Unfortunately, the runway is not changing. It's going to be the same runway, so it's going to have a resurface on it. And so although resurfacing is important, it doesn't change the decision making for an airline. And whether or not they're going to come to a certain market that is entirely based on supply and demand, and our runway length and width can handle pretty large aircraft. Right now we have more regional carrier of 75 seats or less. And I mean, we can handle seven 37 seconds. So or Airbus even. And if airlines decide to come they certainly can. We continue to talk with the airlines multiple times a year to explain to them why our market makes sense, what routes might make sense to them. We work with consultants on collecting data to make that argument. The bigger picture is the airlines have only so many aircraft, so much crew. They have to figure out what makes sense for their entire network and also where they're going to make profit. And so certain markets are more profitable than others. And we're just going to continue to work with our airline partners to try to get more routes over time.
Katie:And I just wanted to talk about communication because this project has gone on for about two years at this point, and there have been public meetings and public communication. But because it's been a longer process than I think the airport had originally intended. I wanted to just talk a little bit about how the public has been involved, how the public has been communicated with about this project, and then if there are any other public meetings on the horizon.
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:My understanding is during the design phase, community members or anybody, tenants could come and just provide some input, learn more about what was going to be happening with the project. And I was at working here at the time, so I was not at those meetings or what was discussed. But it's nice that there was community outreach done to at least get some feedback. And so what we have now in the construction phase is one additional public meeting that is going to be held on Wednesday,
September 10th at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. And so really that will be explaining some of the things that I was just talking about today. Just details about the project. Be able to answer any questions community members might have. I assume a bunch of tenants might be there just to know what's going on. And if there's any questions. Really? Okay.
Steve:Makes sense. I think you've given a great when to expect it and why it's happening. Is there anything else that we haven't touched on yet today that you want to be sure we discuss?
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:Sure. Well, operationally, So Peter Choose will be open and operating normal schedule. Our car rentals will be open as well. And we anticipate more usage because of people having to travel to other airports. And so although we will be having a resurfacing of our parking lots done during this time, so our parking lots will be also closing, which will cause a different impact. But we wanted the ability to have public access and use the car rentals in the restaurant while we're shut down. But from my understanding, all the tenants will still be doing various other things. Some are taking vacations, but it's a good opportunity to get their training in or anything else and then allows us some focus time to see what improvements are things that we can do inside the terminal, like cleaning or fixing certain things. So we're looking at all the options to take advantage of this downtime.
Katie:Great. And Andrew, we do have a website set about the project and the history of the project and what's coming up. That city of redding.gov/runway rehab.
Andrew Solsvig, Airport Manager:And it has some great information in. There.