Cape City Council awards contract for Regional Airport taxiway renovations

Cape Girardeau City Council members on Monday unanimously approved a contract for the Taxiway B reconstruction at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Emery Sapp & Sons, a Columbia, Missouri, contracting firm that has completed other airport improvement projects, was the sole bidder for the reconstruction. The project will include demolishing the existing taxiway from Runway 10-28 to the apron, new airfield lighting and signing and drainage improvements, among other items and will cost a little more than $4.8 million.

The reconstruction will also be reducing the width of the existing taxiway, which is currently at 75 feet, which is 25 wider than required to support Critical Design Aircraft such as the Airbus A320 or the Boeing 737. A portion of the new surface will be relocated and designated A2 due to FAA guidelines requiring the elimination of direct access from the apron to the runway.

The city officials considered rebidding the project. However, after discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration and Crawford, Murphy, and Tilly Inc. -- the contractor in charge of construction administration for the project -- on the complexity and potential cost volatility of the project, officials recommended accepting Emery's bid, according to the meeting agenda.

The awarding of the contract is the final step before a timeline can be set, said airport manager Katrina Amos. A timeline will likely be established in the next few weeks.

The airport manager said Taxiway B is the most important taxiway of six at the airport.

"It supports aircraft of pretty well every size. So, it's important to keep that infrastructure intact, so that we can continue to service the large aircraft that we've been able to support, you know, since the airport's inception," Amos said.

Taxiway B improvements were deemed necessary after a 2021 Pavement Condition Inventory by the Missouri Department of Transportation. The taxiway received a mere 28 out of 100 and was the lowest rated surface at the airport, which was given a 68 overall.

The improvements are being funded solely through money collected from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill passed in 2020.