The Merrill Municipal Airport will soon make some design changes to improve safety on its runways.
The airport’s crosswind runway is currently less than 3,000 feet long. The
project would extend the runway and add a parallel taxiway.
The airport manager believes this change will allow more planes to land and get off the runway quickly.
“It gets them off the runway right away versus having to turn around, back taxi on the runway, clear the runway,” says airport manager Rich McCullough. “They can then end in the center section and continue to get [out of the way].”
Most of the airplanes that land at the airport are flown by private commuters, but some businesses also use the airport to send their products out.
McCullough hopes the improvements will help attract more businesses.
“We want to bring more businesses to Merrill and a lot of these corporate companies want to be within relative proximity to a municipal airport to do business,” he says.
The airport recently received almost $167,000 to fund the project. Most of the money came from the Federal Aviation Administration. The state and the city of Merrill will both contribute a little more than $8,000 each.