Quad Cities International Airport Begins Airfield Construction
April 27, 2022
Construction to remove the “bullseye” configuration of the QC Airport’s airfield has begun. The $10 million dollar project is funded 100% by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The project involves shortening the general aviation runway by 1,500 feet and creating a new parallel taxiway to the airport’s primary 10,000-foot commercial runway.
Quad Cities International Airport is one of only a handful of U.S. airports which still have more than two intersecting runways. While safety is a primary concern of such a configuration, it also creates operational inefficiency whereby commercial flights have a longer taxi to reach the primary runway. General aviation pilots must also contend with commercial air traffic.
“This project has been a long time coming – we only know of one other commercial airport in the U.S. that has a similar configuration,” said Benjamin Leischner, A.A.E., executive director, Quad Cities International Airport. “These changes will benefit both commercial and general aviation traffic considerably. The shorter runway will be closest to the general aviation hangars creating a campus that is separate from commercial traffic, and commercial aircraft will have a much quicker route to and from the primary runway.”
Valley Construction based out of Rock Island, Illinois, is the lead contractor and expects to complete the project in November 2022. On-site jobs will total anywhere from a crew of 8 up to 30+ during busier phases. There are numerous phases of the project, with phase 1 underway through early May. Intermittent runway closures will occur, but the airport is working closely with airlines to prevent any disruption to normal operations.
Once completed, the shortened general aviation runway will not impact operations for the majority of aircraft currently using it. Runway 5/23 which is 5,000 ft. will be shortened to 3,500 ft. which is more than adequate. Aircraft needing a longer runway will be able to use one of the airport’s commercial runways – Runway 13/31 which is 7,000 ft. or Runway 9/27 which is 10,000 ft.