Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport is the economic engine that drives this region. More than $127 million in Capital and Major Maintenance projects are programmed at SDF for FY 2016 through FY 2020. Future projects consist of rehabilitating parts of the airfield, reconfiguring airfield geometry (including new taxiways), Runway 11-29 RSA (Runway Safety Area), and renovating and replacing the Woodlawn Overpass.
Construction will soon begin on this project, ensuring the safety areas for Runway 11-29 comply with FAA Standards. All construction will take place on SDF’s airfield and, as part of the project, construction will soon begin on a 292-foot tunnel, which will tie into the airport’s existing West Perimeter Road.
Click here for a fact sheet with specific details about the project.
Beyond 2010 will ensure that SDF is ready to handle the largest and newest long-range commercial aircraft — helping to retain and attract even more aviation-related companies and jobs for our community and prepare the airport for 21st century aviation needs.
A key project within the plan is the construction of Taxiway Alpha, just west of Runway 17R-35L (West Runway). However, a nearby roadway, Crittenden Drive, encroached on mandatory clearance zones for Taxiway A and needed to be relocated. To view a map of Crittenden Drive Relocation and Taxiway “A”, click here.
To minimize the disruption to adjoining neighbors, better manage construction and secure necessary funding, the estimated $28 million roadway relocation project was divided into three phases.
South Connector: Completed in August 2012 thanks to $5 million from the Commonwealth of Kentucky and $6 million from the Louisville Redevelopment Authority. In spring 2012, the Commonwealth of Kentucky committed $17 million to construct the North Connector and the Woodlawn Overpass Phases of the Crittenden Drive Relocation Project.
North Connector: In September 2013, construction was completed on approximately 1.25 miles of new roadway from the intersection of Crittenden Drive and Park Boulevard south to Wabasso Avenue, which eliminated the second – and final – pinch point and allowed Taxiway Alpha to be completed.
Woodlawn Overpass: As of July 2015, the Woodlawn Drive Overpass project is being designed. Components of the project include:
The goal of the carefully constructed new bridge is to minimize the impact flow of traffic across the tracks. We are finishing geo-technical reviews to assist in the final design of the bridge and hope to have a bid-construction package available for contractors sometime in the fall of 2015. With that schedule, some of the roadway work should begin in fall 2015, with bridge construction work beginning in spring 2016.
Taxiway Alpha is complete. In addition to relocating sections of Crittenden Drive, it was necessary to relocate FedEx’s aircraft parking area and the company’s feeder-truck and employee parking lots to construct the taxiway.
The total cost of the project was approximately $40 million (FAA contributed $37 million; the Airport Authority contributed $3 million.)
Taxiway Alpha is 10,000 feet—or almost 2 (1.89) miles long—and 100 feet wide—as wide as a 10-story building is high.
