Flights Out of Arcata Airport Expected to be Impacted for 12-Day Window in August 2023
Press release from the County of Humboldt:
The Humboldt County Department of Aviation will begin Phase 1 of the California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport (ACV) Runway and Electrical Rehabilitation Project in June. This project will be conducted in three phases to make much needed improvements to ACV’s primary runway, which was last rehabilitated in 1994.
Work required for this project will take place in three phases from June to December, however, commercial air service at ACV is expected to be impacted from Aug. 14 through Aug. 25. Other airport users including medical operators, US Coast Guard and general aviation users will be impacted by overnight closures at various times during the duration of the project. Travelers are encouraged to review the projected project schedule below and take it into consideration when making travel plans.
Overview
Funding for this project was provided thanks to the advocacy efforts of Congressman Jared Huffman, who helped secure a $13 million Airport Improvement Program grant through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) covering 90% of the project costs. The remaining 10% of the project costs will be funded by Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act Grant funding which was previously provided by the FAA to the County of Humboldt.
The Humboldt County Department of Aviation conducted a competitive bid process for this project, and awarded a contract to the low bidder on the project, Mercer Fraser, a Humboldt-based company.
Work for this project includes two categories: upgrades to electrical/lighting infrastructure and pavement rehabilitation including, milling approximately two (2) inches off the surface of the airport’s primary runway and adding approximately six (6) inches of fresh asphalt for a new runway surface. This rehabilitation is expected to help the airport realize another 10-20 years of useful life out of the runway before another major rehabilitation project is needed. The work will be conducted in three phases with further details outlined below.
Phase I
Phase I is scheduled to begin on Monday, June 5 and is currently expected to conclude on Aug. 12. This phase will focus on the initial electrical work including the removal of old lighting and electrical equipment and the installation of new lighting and electrical equipment. Work has been scheduled to minimize impacts to airline schedules with overnight closures of the main runway (Runway 14/32) from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly (outside of normal airline scheduled operations at ACV) throughout Phase I. ACV’s secondary runway will remain open from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night for medical flights, US Coast Guard operations, and other general aviation users. Passenger airlines will not be able to utilize ACV’s secondary runway (Runway 1/19) as it is not large enough to accommodate commercial aircraft for takeoffs and landings.
Phase II-A
Phase II requires a full airport closure. Phase II is scheduled to begin at 12:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 14, and is expected to be completed by 11:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25. Airlines will not have scheduled arrivals or departures at ACV during this 12-day window. As mentioned above, work for this phase will include milling 2 inches of pavement off the old runway surface and adding 6 inches of pavement to the runway. In addition, new markings will be placed on the new pavement.
PHASE II-B
ACV will also be closed overnight from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. during this phase Monday, Aug. 28 through the morning of Friday, Sept. 1, and again beginning the night of Monday, Sept. 4 through the morning of Friday, Sept. 8. During this period, work will include milling and paving work on the taxiways connecting ACV’s runways. Regularly scheduled airline flights will continue to operate during this time.
Phase III
Phase III will include electrical work to bring the newly installed in-pavement lighting and electrical systems flush with the newly paved runway surface. This work is scheduled for 75 nightly closures of ACV’s main runway from midnight to 6 a.m. The dates for these overnight closures are expected to be Monday, Sept. 11 through Friday, Dec. 15.
Regularly scheduled airline flights will still operate during this last phase of the project outside of the overnight closure timeframes. Additionally, ACV’s secondary runway will remain open during the overnight closures for medical flights, US Coast Guard operations, and other general aviation operations.
Project Schedule Dates Closure Times Closures/Impacts Phase I June 5 – Aug. 12 7 Days/Week from 10 p.m.- 6 a.m. Main Runway (Runway 14/32) Phase II-A Aug. 14 – Aug. 25All Day Entire Airport Phase II-B Aug. 28 – Sept. 1 and Sept. 4 – Sept. 8 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday nights from 10 p.m.- 6 a.m. Runway 14/32 and select connecting taxiwaysPhase III Sept. 11 – Dec. 15 Monday – Friday every week from
midnight – 6 a.m. Runway 14/32The Department of Aviation would like to thank the US Coast Guard-Sector Humboldt Bay, United Airlines, Avelo Airlines, and medical flight operators who partnered with the department to arrange this project’s schedule to minimize the impacts of this project for airport partners, operators, customers, and the community.
The Department of Aviation appreciates your patience while we work to make necessary improvements. This project will improve Humboldt County’s critical airfield infrastructure, providing many years of safe use for all airport partners moving forward. The Department of Aviation looks forward to completing a safe and successful project to improve the airport for the Humboldt County residents and visitors to enjoy in the future.
For more information and updates on the California Redwood Coast Humboldt County Airport, please visit flyacv.com.
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Perfect time to close this joke of an “airport” down permanently. Every few years another airline gets their $500,000 grant to service rural communities and as soon as the grant money is blown through they are out of here. Stop wasting tax dollars.
Thank you for your opinion. Other folks may differ with you. Especially those served by the Coast Guard and Medical flights.
Also, both Samoa and Eureka have airports. The one in Samoa is actually very close to the Coast Guard station. FedEx uses Eureka twice daily….ACV can be shut down at huge savings.
ACV operations support the other smaller airports. Samoa is not lit so cannot have night ops and is owned by the City of Eureka.
The point of the subsidies is to make our remote corner of the continent a bit more accessible. I know a number of people who have been able to attend to family emergencies in Southern California with much less stress thanks to the flights down there. And personally, it makes visits from out of state family much more accessible vs them having to drive 5+ hours over difficult and intermittently closed roads from SF, Sacramento, or Medford.
Ultimately, seems to me like one of the better uses of government money.
Of course, none of that is true. The one time that an airline received an incentive and left was Delta in 2008. Thanks for playing.
Both the Coast Guard and medical flights can use Kneeland airport which is much more likely not to be closed due to weather.
Wait ramones deserves subsidies now that sliver whining ain’t there
Ramones has not been in the airport for a couple years.
Thank you for this article. I appreciate the heads up on possible summer and fall travel impacts.
The 12-day window I am sure will cause some confusion with inbound and outbound flights and the folks using them. The airport is in need of a major facelift and the projects planned will be a welcome addition as far as I am concerned. Safety for the pilots, planes and passengers far outweighs the work being done. Air travel is somewhat dangerous and anything to improve on that gets my vote.