Runway extension will make RC airport ideal location

The reconstruction of the Rogers City Airport not only is changing the terrain of a large area of southern Rogers City, but it also could alter the travel patterns of pilots who frequent northern Michigan.

The airport project is one of several fairly large scale operations currently underway in Presque Isle County. It is one of only two airports receiving complete transformations in Michigan.

Members of the PI Airport committee, a representative of the engineering firm URS which designed the new airport, airport manager Mike Jermeay, and Rogers City manager John Bruning gathered for an informal press conference at the airport to discuss the progress of the project, when it will be completed, and what will be next.

IN ASSESSING the current status of the project, URS engineer Alex Drouin said nothing is left from the old airport, and proclaimed it as a ?destination airport. It?s going to make Rogers City accessible by any means.? The completion date is tentatively set for August 4, before the Nautical Festival and the August fishing tournaments. The runway will be lengthened by more than 1,000 feet to 4,105 feet, while the width of the strip will be widened by 15 additional feet to 75 feet.

Construction crews from Bacco Corporation of Iron Mountain were bringing the future runway surface up to grade Monday, with one last section near the airport building left to be leveled. The runway will be longer than the one in Cheboygan, according to Drouin. Construction started in early June. Larger aircraft, such as a commuter type planes, will be able to land in Rogers City.

?In 1978 it was half asphalt,? said committee member Ron Dugan, who said the last improvements were made 24 years ago. There were rocks in the center, and the old north/south (runway) was still in use.? The runway was extended to 3,017 feet in 1979.

?I THINK ANY enhancement to transportation is a benefit,? said Bruning. Bruning also is encouraged with the joint city-county project with new industrial lots south of the airport property. That project also kicked off several weeks ago. ?It certainly will be an enhancement,? said Bruning. The improvements also allow for more space for travelers to tie down their planes with a larger apron and improved security lighting. A new electrical vault will power all the improvements, said Drouin. Additional improvements have been made to the lighting.

The old components were salvaged and used at the Leo Geotz Airport in Onaway, while a new controlled lighting system will be installed in Rogers City. ?Our pilots will be able to activate the runway lights from a few miles out,? said Jermeay. ?They go on when the radio goes on and stay on for 15 minutes. ?Once they land, and taxi out, then the lights automatically turn off.?

That?s expected to save money, as opposed to the old system which was left on from dusk until dawn. The Rogers City Airport also is getting a non-directional beacon, which allows pilots to assess their locations in the sky easier.

JERMEAY SAID the project won?t be completed when the last of the Bacco trucks pack up and leaves for Iron Mountain, as improvements will continue in the coming years. Airport officials want to make fuel available in the next couple of years, and as a part of the five-year plan, which was submitted on Tuesday, an Automatic Weather Observing Station will be sought.

?It will allow pilots to obtain real-time weather from the field,? said Jermeay. ?That information can be obtained by radio, Internet, or

by telephone, 24 hours a day.? Alpena has a system, but conditions are much different, because Alpena Regional Airport is further inland. ?Not only will it benefit the pilots, but it will benefit the boaters,? said Jermeay. Committee member Gary Nowak, who has been a part of the project since its inception in 1998, said officials in Lansing have been supportive of the county?s efforts. ?(They said) one of the things that attracted us to Rogers City was the support of the city and the support of the county,? said Dugan, a local pilot. ?Everybody was in support of doing something and that?s not typically the case.?

Lansing officials visited last week and were impressed with the progress and vowed to continue to support the project. Drouin said there were some minor problems early on that were fixed, resulting in the loss of no construction time. ?You?ll look down that runway and it looks good for the city,? said Dugan. ?You like to create the impression that you?re moving as opposed to standing still, and this is a tremendous asset.?