Travelers flying in or out of Wrangell on Alaska Airlines touch down in either Juneau or Ketchikan as they head north or south. The airports in both cities are set to look a lot different in coming years, amid tens of millions of dollars in planned and ongoing renovations and expansion.
At the Ketchikan International Airport, there is a financial plan in place for new construction on the first and second floors, said airport manager Alex Puera. That includes more room for TSA screening, air taxi operations, changes to the concessions area, and another jetway to connect with planes.
“We get so busy in the summer that the TSA lines wind down into the baggage area and it causes a huge amount of congestion,” said Puera. “It’s going to make a lot more room for passengers.”
A terminal plan published by aviation consultants the Mead and Hunt Team in January laid out issues with the design and flow of the airport that it says leads to traveler confusion and congestion. The project team proposed four alternatives for airport layouts and solicited public input for choosing the preferred concept.
This first phase of work is estimated at $23 million. Puera said funding is expected to come from a variety of sources, including airport reserves, passenger fees added to ticket prices, and federal money for airport improvements.
The entire scope of the overhaul, projected in several phases through 2040, is estimated at $89 million.
Puera said there is one thing standing in the way of the first phase moving forward — the airport has a long-term land lease with the state of Alaska that ends in 2027. The state owns the land; the borough owns and operates the terminal.
“In order for the borough to take up bond debt, we need a long-term lease,” said Puera, who added that the airport is in discussions with the state to expedite that process.
If everything goes well with lease negotiations, Puera said, construction would likely begin in late 2023 or 2024. At that time, he said, there will be some disruptions at the airport. “The airport will be running as normal, but there will be areas that will be closed off.”
Meanwhile, renovations are ongoing at the Juneau International Airport. It’s the second phase of terminal renovations, said airport manager Patty Wahto. The $25 million project includes replacing parts of the terminal building constructed before 1984, mostly affecting smaller carriers, such as Alaska Seaplanes, and employee offices.
About 35,000 square feet of the older end of the airport terminal was torn down and is being rebuilt.
Construction began in early 2020, and Wahto said airport employees are starting to move into the newly built space, though there is still work ongoing.
“A lot of noise and demolition,” Wahto said, “that’s the biggest part that’s left. Now it’s time to get rid of the old stuff.”
Wahto said this phase of the project is set for completion in early 2022.
Though Juneau officials had expected federal grants spread over several years would cover maybe half of the project cost, they were notified last year that the Federal Aviation Administration had awarded a $15 million grant for the work, significantly reducing Juneau’s debt to pay for the job.
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