PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County International Airport runway will be redesigned using a $414,328 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Interim Executive Director Jim Pivarnik said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has told port officials that the entire runway at the airport at 191 Airport Cutoff Road must be redesigned.

“Right now it’s a shed design, a four-degree slope that allows us to have only one drainage ditch,” Pivarnik said.

“The new FAA specs are that we have to do a crown runway where the center is higher and it slopes on both sides. That means we have to do the entire storm system again.”

Pivarnik said the runway is an important piece of community infrastructure, not only from the general aviation pilot’s perspective, but in case of a disaster.

“It is our way out of Port Townsend in case the Hood Canal Bridge goes down or [U.S. Highway] 101 washes away,” he said.

“This is our community exit. It is a precious resource that we need to preserve.

“We have the federal government saying that they agree that it needs to be improved, so we are moving forward.”

The money is for Phase 2 of the Runway Rehabilitation Project. It will go toward design and engineering.

Port officials anticipate that the total cost of Phase 2 will not exceed $460,365, of which 90 percent will be funded by grants. The port is responsible for 10 percent of the cost, projected to be $46,036.

Reid Middleton Inc. has been retained by the Port of Port Townsend to complete design and engineering work on the project. A contract was signed Wednesday.

Pivarnik projects it will take five months for the design and engineering work. He anticipates a request for bids will go out in February or March.

“When the asphalt plants open up in June, we’ll be ready for construction,” he said.

Engineers have told port officials that the project could take three months to complete.

Pivarnik is concerned about that time frame.

“We think that’s really going to be tough for the airport to handle that. We’ve been talking with a couple of project manager consultants, one being the group that just did the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Airport, and they did their total refit in a little over a month. So, I’m meeting with them to find out how they did that.

“I want to know how other people mitigated that. It isn’t only for the 120 aircraft that are based out here. Most of those are recreational pilots. But it’s also for the businesses out there, the Aero Museum, and the Spruce Goose. They are all so important. We can’t take three months to do this.”

He said port officials will work with contractors to offer incentives to work 24/7 to get it done in a timely manner.

“We’re excited about it,” he said. “It’s a 25-year project that we are going to finish next year and our financial participation will be minimal.”

Port Townsend/Jefferson County International is one of eight airports in the state to receive funding under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Improvement Funding Program.

The FAA awarded a total of $586 million in infrastructure grants to airports across the country for projects that include runways, taxiways, aprons and terminal projects.

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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.