Taxiway Improvments at Plymouth Municipal Airport with $2.5 Million Grant

PLYMOUTH – A $2.5 million federal grant will enable the Plymouth Municipal Airport to relocate a taxiway that is too close to its north-south runway.

Members of the state's Congressional delegation announced the funding as part of the Federal Aviation Administration's airport improvement program last week.

Airport Manager Tom Maher said the money will allow the airport to relocate its Sierra taxiway, which takes aircraft to and from the southern end of the airfield. The work will move the three-quarter-mile taxiway about 50 feet farther west, away from the airport's north-south runway.

Maher said the move will bring the airport into compliance with current FAA requirements regarding the separation of taxiways and runways. The regulations are based on studies that predict the distance planes might go off the runways if they were to experience an emergency like a blown tire on landing.

The airport is expected to put the project out to bid in the next few weeks. Maher expects construction will begin in the spring and should take about 100 days to complete.

Maher said the airport will not be able to use the taxiway during construction. The airport will have to use a creative traffic flow to access the runway on days it is in use while the work is underway.

The airport used the same approach when the taxiway was moved farther away from the east-west runway 10 years ago.

Maher said the project has been on the airport's to-do list for years and will result in safer travel for airplanes flying in and out of Plymouth.

U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Bourne, said Plymouth is the hub of the South Shore and a robust airport only helps the entire region.

"This new taxiway extension will keep our airport up to code while allowing for goods to more easily come and go from our local communities. This is another example of how smart infrastructure investments are for communities around the country," Keating said in a statement.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, called the grants wonderful news for communities in Southeastern Massachusetts and the Cape.

"I'm glad the federal government is making key infrastructure investments in the commonwealth's municipal airports, which help grow the local economy," she said in the statement.

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, said the funding was vital to a much-needed project. "Combined with recent funding for dredging Plymouth Harbor, these resources are a wave of vital community infrastructure investments that I am proud to support. I congratulate the town of Plymouth and look forward to welcoming the world to America's Hometown for its 400th birthday next year," he said in the statement.

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