Lake Elmo Airport opens new, longer runway; neighbors concerned about impact

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

Officials on Wednesday will gather to celebrate the completion of a new runway relocation and expansion project at Lake Elmo Airport.

A ceremony and ribbon cutting to mark the opening of the 3,500-foot runway will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Lake Elmo Aero hangar. Remarks by Brian Ryks, executive director and CEO of the Metropolitan Airports Commission; Rick King, chairman of MAC; and Washington County Commissioner Gary Kriesel will begin at 5:30 p.m.

The new runway is part of a $23.9 million multi-year project to improve airfield infrastructure and provide safer operations, according to Jeff Lea, a spokesman for MAC. Most of the funding for the project — more than $17.5 million – came from federal and state grants, Lea said.

The project, which will be completed next year after the previous runway is converted into a taxiway, also included realigning 30th Street North, upgrading instrument-approach technology and installing new lights and signage.

But many neighbors objected to the plan, citing concerns about noise and the possibility of more and larger aircraft using the airport.

Dave Schultz, a West Lakeland Township supervisor, said it’s too early to tell whether the new runway, which opened July 20, will contribute to an increase in aircraft or size of aircraft at the airport.

A site that pilots use to determine where to land and take off – AirNav.com – still lists the airport as having a 2,849-foot runway, Schultz said. “Once AirNav has that information updated to 3,500 feet, which makes it larger than the Crystal Airport, which is 3,300 feet, then I think you’re going to see an increase in both size of aircraft and the number of aircraft,” he said.

With the new runway, MAC officials say, the Lake Elmo Airport, located in Baytown Township, is still smaller than the 6,941-foot runway at the St. Paul Downtown Airport and the 5,000-foot runways at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie and the Anoka County-Blaine Airport.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission expects the Lake Elmo Airport, which has no control tower, to continue being used by mostly recreational, training and small-business planes. About 180 aircraft are based at the airport.

In 2021, there were more than 32,000 landings and takeoffs at the airport, a 9.6 percent increase over 2020’s numbers, Lea said.

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