Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is moving forward with plans to build a curving taxiway to reduce delays and improve safety.
The project has been in the works for years, though it was temporarily put on hold last year when the COVID-19 pandemic drove a sharp decline in flights.
The Atlanta City Council’s transportation committee voted to move forward with phase 2 of the project and will advance the measure on to the full council for approval.
The cost was previously estimated at about $70 million, but is now expected to cost $80.5 million.
During phase 2, which will cost $55.9 million, McCarthy Improvement will demolish concrete, asphalt and underground utilities; build jet blast walls, retaining walls and an embankment; relocate nearby airport roads; and construct the taxiway curve to connect other taxiways.
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The first phase, involving ground work at the site, was completed in November 2018. It was followed by work on the design for phase 2, which was completed in mid-2020 before the work was contracted out.
The new “end-around” taxiway on the south side of the airfield will increase the maximum departure rate, reduce delays during taxiing and greatly decrease the need for aircraft to cross a runway.
The Federal Aviation Administration approved grant funding for a portion of the cost of the project.
Runway crossings increase the risk of aircraft entering the path of another plane that is taking off or landing. End-around taxiways can improve safety.
The south end-around taxiway project comes after the airport built an end-around known as taxiway Victor on the north side of the airfield in 2007, to eliminate 600 to 700 runway crossings a day.
Hartsfield-Jackson said plans for the new end-around taxiway “was prompted, in part, by the success of the taxiway Victor project.”
McCarthy submitted the lowest bid for nearly two year’s worth of work.
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