July 30, 2024 3:30 a.m.

On Monday, Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced that the Federal Aviation Administration is awarding $17,364,442 to the state under the Airport Improvement Program.

Ten airports around Oregon are receiving funds.

The awards include:

*$2,120,951 for the Roseburg Regional Airport

*$180,000 for the Myrtle Creek Municipal Airport

The grant for Roseburg is for the “Extend the Taxiway A – Phase II Construction Project”. City staff said that will extend the taxiway toward the north about 400 feet. The project will remove a safety issue by eliminating the need for planes to make a “back-taxi” maneuver on the runway at the uncontrolled field.  Back-taxiing means a plane taxis on the runway-in-use in a direction opposite to that of take-off or landing.

Information from staff said when a plane back-taxis, the aircraft has to take time to turn around after landing to get back to a connector that will get the plane to the taxiway. That’s a safety issue because that takes longer for an aircraft to get off the runway on an airfield that does not have a control tower or air traffic controllers.

City Manager Nikki Messenger said, “We are thrilled to receive this grant that will enable us to lengthen the taxiway to match the length of the runway, which was extended in 2011/2012”. Messenger said, “Roseburg would like to thank the Oregon congressional delegation for their ongoing support of the Roseburg Regional Airport and the delegation’s recognition of the airport’s importance to our local economy and real-time emergency response”.