The Chehalis-Centralia Airport’s master plan update process began earlier this summer with the initial airport analysis. Consultants are now gathering public input with the first of three open houses held Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the airport.
City and airport staff, along with consultants from Aviation Planning Group (APG), were on hand to talk to local pilots who frequent the 5,000-foot runway about what improvements and modifications they’d like to see implemented over the next 20 years.
Those at the Sept. 26 open house had a chance to examine analysis already completed by APG concerning current flight traffic patterns and airport usage statistics.
They had the opportunity to make suggestions concerning what improvements they think will be needed with the growth predicted not only in Chehalis, but throughout Lewis County over the next few decades. While no exact date has been set, the next open house will take place early next year.
The prior evening, Sept. 25, the APG consultants spoke to the Chehalis City Council to explain the airport master plan update process.
Required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to get federal grant funding, airport master plans are comprehensive studies describing the short-, medium- and long-term development goals for future aviation demand at an airport.
“What a master plan does not do is really focus on the operations or maintenance of an airport,” APG President Leah Whitfield said during the Sept. 25 meeting. “It’s focused on the capital development of the airport to meet that need.”
Chehalis-Centralia Airport Director Brandon Rakes told the council the last time the airport’s master plan was updated was in 2001.
“So it’s definitely due,” Rakes said.
According to Whitfield, the master plan update process involves not just an inventory and analysis of airport traffic, but also infrastructure.
“From there, we forecast out what the potential is over the next five, 10, 15 and 20 years,” Whitfield said.
FAA infrastructure standards are constantly evolving, she added, as whenever a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into an aircraft crash or airport incident concludes, changes to FAA guidelines are often recommended.
“They tweak standards. They might widen a taxiway just a little bit or change other procedures, so we look at what those FAA requirements are because those feed into the facility requirements,” Whitfield said.
Everything will be comprehensively considered, including possible locations for future hangars and taxiways. Whitfield said the FAA will be involved throughout the process to ensure the final airport master plan is approved.
Since 2005, the airport has received nearly $7 million in federal grants, Whitfield said. That includes almost $2.6 million for taxiway reconstruction in 2018 and nearly another $1 million in 2021 for runway and taxiway sealing.
As for the airport’s current usage, APG consultant Justin Heid broke down the numbers for the councilors. On average, Chehalis-Centralia Airport has nearly 50,000 annual operations with a total of 56 aircraft based at the airport.
More than half of all operations involve small, dual-engine business jets such as the Cessna Citation CJ3, which has a wingspan of just over 53 feet.
“What we can expect and anticipate is those (wingspans) will slightly grow through the years, and so our forecasting will look at what we need to keep in mind as far as infrastructure out at the airport, and runway width,” Heid said. “You have a very wide runway, so that’s not going to be an issue.”
Heid added, through pilot surveys already conducted, the airport’s biggest needs include more hangars, taxiway lights and landing navigational aids. Pavement conditions are also being examined.
Aside from the first open house last week, two more will be held at dates to be determined in 2024 once draft master plans are ready for consideration. Additionally, both technical and public advisory committees will be formed and meet three times throughout the next year.
Once the final draft receives FAA approval, it will be implemented during the summer of 2024.
Public comments and suggestions will be accepted throughout the airport master plan update process. To submit a comment and sign up for master plan update notifications, visit https://www.chehaliscentraliaairport.com/public-engagement-1.
For more information on the master plan and to view the 2001 Chehalis-Centralia Airport master plan, visit https://www.chehaliscentraliaairport.com/documents.
To learn more about the APG, visit https://www.theaviationplanninggroup.com/.
