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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

Airport in Oak Island Will Receive New Taxiway

The Cape Fear Regional Airport in Oak Island will get a brand-new taxiway thanks to a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. 

WHQR’s Michelle Bliss reports the FAA awarded the North Carolina Division of Aviation almost $23-million  last September to implement capital improvement projects beginning this year.

$3.5 million will go to the airport to construct a taxiway parallel to the recently extended runway. Currently there is no taxiway and the runway is serving both purposes.

North Carolina Division of Aviation Director Richard Walls says this particular project is one of the division’s highest priorities.

“They’re seeing continued growth in traffic, they’re seeing continued growth in larger airplanes which is really facilitating or mandating why we want to put a better taxiway system in there.”

The airport is a general aviation facility, meaning there’s no commercial aircraft, but it is used for corporate jets, pilot training, military use as well as tourism purposes.

For as many operations as Cape Fear’s doing, they really, really need a parallel taxiway. It’s going to significantly enhance safety and allow them to provide much service to the aircraft using the airport.”  

The airport has an approximate $26 million a year impact on North Carolina, supporting more than 260 jobs. While there isn’t a definite timeline, Walls says construction should be finished by the end of next year.

 

After growing up in Woodbridge, Virginia, Michelle attended Virginia Tech before moving to Wilmington to complete her Master in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. Her reporting and nonfiction writing have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, within the pages of Wrightsville Beach Magazine, and in literary journals like River Teeth and Ninth Letter. Before moving to Wilmington, Michelle served as the general manager for WUVT, a community radio station in Blacksburg, Virginia. She lives with her husband Scott and their pups, Katie, Cooper, and Mosey.