Sky's the limit: More commercial, passenger use coming in Craven County airport expansion
Coastal Carolina Regional Airport brings in $457 million a year in economic impact to Craven County and surrounding areas. Soon, a runway expansion project will begin that will look to increase that footprint through more commercial and potential passenger usage.
Coastal Carolina Regional Airport (EWN) announce Monday morning that the first step of a runway expansion project will soon be underway as part of its multi-dimensional airport master plan to enhance the airport’s capabilities and capacity.
Funding for the $8 million dollar project was approved as part of the state of North Carolina’s 2022-23 budget.
In order to begin the project, the re-alignment of Williams Road will be the first step to allowing the airport to increase its runway length to a total of 6,800 feet, according to a news release from EWN.
Williams Road is state-owned and currently restricts the amount of clear area for current and future runway demands.
The plan is to work with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to move the road and its associated traffic further to the north without disrupting the current normal daily traffic flow.
A portion of Williams Road behind the Food Lion shopping center which sits in front of the main runway will be bent further out. Depending on the environmental assessment currently being performed, the hope is to complete the entire expansion project within two years.
“Re-aligning the road and extending the runway is another step toward building a bright future for EWN,” said Andrew Shorter, airport director. “A longer runway will make it possible for larger planes to utilize EWN, allowing us to continue to serve the travel needs of our local community and visitors to the area now and into the future."
The Williams Road re-alignment project will be the latest in a series of recent airport improvements.
The completion of the $5 million Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting facility in late 2021 was a major step forward, increasing the level of safety and training at the airport and also providing extra support for high-level emergency situations throughout the region.
A $2 million Commercial Hanger Project is also nearing completion. It will give dedicated space to the airport’s commercial clients. The official opening of the new hanger is July 22.
“Transformation has long been in the works at EWN,” said Shorter. “We’ve been making plans for years and are now thrilled to see some of those projects coming to fruition. We continue to pursue grant funding from the FAA and other sources to fund more of these projects as time goes on, including an upcoming large-scale terminal expansion.”
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This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: Craven County airport expansion project: more commercial, passengers
