Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 34 seconds.
This past June, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport began a significant three-year airfield rehabilitation initiative. The project will replace existing aging civil and electrical infrastructure, including restoring the paving and lighting for the airport’s runways, taxiways and apron areas.
In September, the rehabilitation project reached a major milestone with the resurfacing of runway 08-26 and the full reconstruction of runway 06-24 complete.
These initiatives are being undertaken in an effort to modernize the airport and ensure it continues to serve as an economic engine for the city as well as providing efficient service to the 2.5 million passengers who travel through the airport each year, while investing in noise mitigation measures that will benefit the surrounding community and demonstrate PortsToronto’s commitment to balance within a mixed use waterfront. Throughout the process, the main runway’s (08-26) length will not be changed or affected.
Runway 15/33 has been decommissioned and will be converted to a taxiway in 2017.
Throughout the construction process, Billy Bishop Airport’s unique location on an island has allowed contractors to take full advantage of barging operations this summer, with the majority of equipment and materials being transported by water from PortsToronto’s marine terminal yard in the Port Lands to a temporary dock constructed on the east side of the airport specifically for this project. This procedure has ensured minimal impacts on local residents as well as travellers related to construction traffic.
For example, the floating barge can carry 600 tonnes of aggregate material from the Port Lands to the airport, eliminating the need for 50 dump trucks (25 each way) on the roads through the community.
In addition, given that a portion of construction activities take place during night-time hours when the airport is closed to commercial and general aviation aircraft traffic, PortsToronto has implemented a number of measures to minimize the impact of construction activities on local residents including limitations on construction vehicle access and construction-related noise, as well as directing construction lighting downward and away from neighbourhoods.
