Naples airport leaders say taxi extension will improve safety

A glitch in the design of the Naples Municipal Airport each year causes thousands of planes to make unsafe ground crossings over an active runway with high-speed jet traffic.

Air traffic controllers described the intersection for one of the airport’s runways as a safety issue.
 

But a $2 million project expected to break ground next month would help change that.

The proposal to build an extension to the airport’s taxiway on the west end would allow pilots to avoid crossing midfield when they taxi their jets to take off from the runway at the airport’s southern edge.

Airport commissioners unanimously approved the proposal in February after a recommendation from Executive Director Chris Rozansky, who said his staff supported the change.

“It certainly is an improvement in terms of safety,” Rozansky said. “This is something the tower has really advocated for.”

Ski Kordelski, air traffic manager, gave his support to the project in April. 

"The extension will reduce aircraft runway crossings and aircraft wait times for aircraft waiting to get ATC instructions to cross the airport's primary runway," he said.

As the airport is designed, pilots are forced to cross Runway 5 before circling back around the taxiway to take off from the runway. Rozansky said pilots are forced to cross the runway in 15 to 20 percent of the airport’s more than 95,000 takeoffs and landings.

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The extension to Taxiway D, at a little less than a half-mile, would divert the traffic north of the runway.

It would also reduce delays during peak season, when planes are backed up in waits as long as 45 minutes before controllers allow pilots to cross the busy runway, Rozansky said.

“Anytime you can reduce runway crossings, you are improving safety,” Rozansky said. “That’s the primary thrust of the project.”

The project is expected to be completed this fall, Rozansky said. A grant from the Florida Department of Transportation is covering 80 percent of the cost, and the airport is paying the remaining $400,000.

The airport is funded through its own operations and doesn’t receive public tax dollars.