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Long Island’s MacArthur Airport just got some big-time upgrades to its main runway.
Last week, the Town of Islip announced the completion of the 6/24 Rehabilitation project, a $16,378,161 initiative to revitalize Runway 6/24.
The improvements included adding new pavement, enhanced pitching and state-of-the-art lighting. Highlights of the project are its new energy-efficient LED lighting and replacing 139 in-pavement lights with its associated conduit and cabling.
“Runway 6/24 is our primary runway, and its service life is essential to serving our airlines, general aviation operations and customers with excellence now, and going into the future,” said Shelley LaRose-Arken, the airport’s commissioner.
The rehabilitation of the Islip Town-owned airport was made possible through the FAA, which authorized a $14.28 million grant for this project in 2018. The rest of the funds were supplied by New York State and the local share funded by Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), according to Islip Town officials.
This effort has been a long-time coming.
“It had been roughly 20 years since the 7006-ft Runway 6/24 had a complete rehabilitation,” said Rob Schneider, MacArthur’s deputy commissioner. “Normal wear and tear causes asphalt to deteriorate.”
“The rehabilitation and paving consisted of 74,000 tons of new asphalt and the runway has been crowned 3 feet off the centerline to improve drainage and runoff,” he added.
Below is a photo of town, state, airport, and FAA officials celebrating the upgraded runway.
