A long-anticipated runway expansion will help medium-sized corporate and intercontinental aircraft take flight at Lake Simcoe Regional Airport (LSRA).
Barrie city council approved $345,000 in funding for the project as part of its 2021 operating and capital budget, passed Jan. 25.
“The widening will allow for more aircraft to land there, which will be a help to our industries immediately and in the long run it will hopefully lead to (more) passenger service,” said Deputy Mayor Barrie Ward, who also sits on the airport board.
The estimated cost of the runway expansion is between $6 million and $10 million.
The funding will come from Barrie’s airport reserve, created when the city sold the majority of its LSRA ownership to the County of Simcoe for approximately $3.7 million last year. The deal cut Barrie’s ownership from 60 to 10 per cent.
“When the city sold its share of the airport to the county, the extra proceeds were put into this reserve for exactly this purpose,” city treasurer Craig Millar said of Barrie’s share of the runway expansion.
The airport is located on Line 7 North in Oro-Medonte Township, just south of Orillia.
One of the first objectives in the LSRA’s strategic plan is to expand the runway to address operational constraints and allow for larger and heavier aircraft to use the airport. A $1.5-million provincial grant will help fund the first phase of the runway expansion.
It is to widen the runway to 150 feet from 100 ft., and the first part of this project was completed in the fall of 2020. It’s scheduled to be completed in the late spring of this year.
The second phase of the expansion is the eventual extension of the runway to 7,000 ft. from 6,001 ft. To date, the work includes drainage and environmental studies.
LSRA’s runway — at 6,001 ft. long and 100 ft. wide — is a potential operational constraint to those who operate medium to large corporate aircraft. Widening it to 150 ft., and extending to 7,000 ft., will permit medium-sized corporate and intercontinental aircraft to operate at maximum take-off weight under dry and wet runway conditions.
Widening the runway to 150 ft. also provides an additional margin of safety for larger aircraft, especially during periods when the runway is wet or snowy.
The vision for the LSRA is for it to become a full-service regional airport, capable of accommodating regional scheduled air service, ultra-low-cost airlines and leisure flights to sun destinations. To accommodate these objectives, a minimum runway length of 7,000 ft. and 150 ft. wide is required.
On Jan. 1, 2020, the city reduced its ownership in LSRA to lower Barrie’s financial commitment toward the $66-million phased expansion of the airport, needed to create more business and employment opportunities. The city also wanted to see a reduction in its maintenance, operating, capital and borrowing charges associated with LSRA.
The airport board is scheduled to meet Thursday, Jan. 28 and its agenda includes the report on LSRA’s runway widening being received.
