CAA: GA News, "Fort Worth, Texas, Officials to Celebrate Meacham Airport Upgrade"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thursday, February 28, 2002

Fort Worth, Texas, Officials to Celebrate Meacham Airport Upgrade
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas


FORT WORTH, Texas-- City officials will celebrate the reopening of the
major taxiway at Meacham Airport today after nearly five years of
construction that cost $15 million.

The 7,500-foot strip, known as Taxiway Alpha, has been straightened and
refurbished and will serve as a backup runway at the 77-year-old,
city-owned airport.

Federal funds paid 90 percent of the reconstruction costs; the city paid
the remainder.

"The taxiway is now parallel with the runaway, and the new configuration
makes maneuvering at the airport much easier," said Lisa Pyles, Fort
Worth's aviation director. "Before, there were a lot of turns and there
wasn't very good traffic flow."

Meacham, home to several flight-training schools, is the third-busiest
airport in the state behind Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and Houston
Intercontinental, handling about 300,000 take-offs and landings each
year, officials said.

Of the numerous taxiways at the facility, Taxiway Alpha is the most
frequently used, Pyles said.

The reconstruction widened the taxiway to 100 feet, about twice the
width of a normal taxiway, said Luis Elguezabal, the airport's manager.
Additional drainage and shoulder space was also added to the strip.

The extra room and other improvements will allow the taxiway to serve as
a backup runway when the main runway undergoes a $22 million
reconstruction.

The city plans to begin that project when money becomes available,
Elguezabal said.

Although the taxiway has already reopened, city officials will hold a
ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4:30 p.m. today to formally celebrate
completion of the project.

Meacham Airport opened in 1925 as Fort Worth Municipal Airport, but was
renamed in 1927 in honor of former Mayor H.C. Meacham.

It is one of three airports owned by the city. Meacham and Spinks
airports serve general aviation needs, while Alliance Airport handles
mostly cargo and manufacturing needs.

Kim Dignum, a member of the Fort Worth aviation advisory board, said the
improvements are a step toward modernizing and improving service.

"It not only benefits the businesses out there, but it's a huge
improvement to the people and the passengers," she said.

Knick Curtis, director of admissions and a pilot at the American Flyers
Flight School who uses the taxiway nearly every day, said the
reconstruction has made his job easier.

"When it wasn't open, we had to taxi around a bunch of different ways,"
Curtis said. "The access to and from the runways is much easier now."

City councilmen Chuck Silcox and Jim Lane said they hope the
improvements will help lure commercial airline service back to the
airport.

Keeping the facility in good working order is key to eventually making
that happen, Silcox said.

"This is kind of our diamond in the rough, and it needs to be kept up,"
Silcox said. "We can't let anything deteriorate.

"To attract an airline of any kind, we are going to have to have the
airport stay in good physical shape."


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