EASTON, Md. — Construction is taking place at Easton Airport as officials push forward with a multi-year project aimed at modernizing the airfield.
The work is currently in phase three and includes electrical upgrades, new infrastructure, and preparations tied to a future runway expansion.
Easton Airport Manager Micah Risher says the project is designed to keep operations running while major improvements are completed in stages.
“This year’s project is focus on a electrical upgrade for East Airport,” Risher said. “So that started with a new electrical vault…that’s where the heart of the electrical system is with the regulators and all the controllers and systems like that.”
Risher says crews are also installing duct banking and rewiring both the existing airfield and areas planned for future expansion.
“So basically, the existing airfield is being rewired and the new airfield area is going to be set up that way,” Risher told WBOC. “When we are able to lay that pavement, we can open the new airfield, hopefully within the next 12 to 18 months.”
Officials say the airport is continuing to operate through construction, though several taxiways are closed and pilots are relying heavily on the main runway.
“We’re operating on one runway right now, most of our taxiways are closed because this project is so large,” Risher said.
The broader modernization effort has been underway for years, with construction divided into multiple phases that include earthwork, demolition, and electrical upgrades. More than $25 million has already been spent on the project, with additional funding still needed to complete the work.
“This project started over 20 years ago in planning,” Risher said. “We’re three years into construction now.”
Construction crews say the current phase also includes work on the airport’s electrical vault, which will house control systems that manage airfield operations.
Derek Staub, who oversees construction at the airport, says the work must meet strict federal aviation standards.
“There’s very stringent specifications that you have to build airfields to that the FAA outlines,” Staub said. “It’s kind of our job to make sure they build them correctly because any type of safety compromise on an airfield can be a very catastrophic incident if something were to go wrong.”
Surveyors like Brandon Wilkins are also playing a key role in keeping the project on track.
“Day to day, we’re just making sure that we have the points needed, the layout needed for the crews to continue working,” Wilkins said.
Officials say the project remains on schedule in phases, with work continuing over the next several years. A four-day closure of runway 4 is expected this summer for electrical upgrades, followed by a longer closure next year as work continues, though that timeline has not yet been finalized.
