Watonga to Reconstruct Airport Runway with Federal Grant

WATONGA – The Watonga Regional Airport will be closed for several months this winter while its runway is reconstructed with funds from a federal grant.

The Watonga Public Works Authority voted last Tuesday, Aug. 17, to accept a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for the runway work. Usually, such FAA grants require the municipality to chip in 10% of the project costs; but under a recent coronavirus relief package passed by Congress, that 10% requirement has gone away and the FAA will be covering 100% of the project.

Toby Baker, with architectural and engineering firm Parkhill, told the PWA Tuesday that the grant is worth $2,527,442. The PWA awarded the runway contract to Tulsa-based Ellsworth Construction.

Baker said the airport will be closed about four to six months. “It just depends on the weather,” he said. “If we have a dry winter, and we can get the subgrade done easily, then the paving is a little easier to do.”

He guessed that the project will “be a little closer to the six-month time frame.”

Baker said construction likely won’t get started until October at the earliest.