MOLINE, Ill. — The Quad Cities International Airport (QCIA) has begun a series of construction projects aimed at making its airfield safer and more efficient by altering the design of its intersecting runways.
QCIA announced the beginning of the work in a news release on Wednesday, April 27, and provided information on how the renovation will alter the airfield's "bullseye" configuration.
The airport is one of only a few in the U.S. with more than two intersecting runways and that kind of design comes with issues, such as safety concerns, forcing commercial flights to take longer taxis to the primary runway, and making general aviation pilots compete with commercial air traffic.
The project will shorten the general aviation runway by 1,500 feet and create a new taxiway to the primary commercial runway.
The $10 million project, 100% funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, is headed by Rock Island's Valley Construction. It's expected to be completed in November 2022, with intermittent runway closures occurring throughout the period.
“This project has been a long time coming — we only know of one other commercial airport in the U.S. that has a similar configuration,” said Benjamin Leischner, A.A.E., executive director of Quad Cities International Airport. “These changes will benefit both commercial and general aviation traffic considerably. The shorter runway will be closest to the general aviation hangars creating a campus that is separate from commercial traffic, and commercial aircraft will have a much quicker route to and from the primary runway.”