Texarkana Regional Airport Authority Board members received an update regarding plans to design and build a proposed passenger terminal during their regular monthly meeting Thursday.
Officials with McClelland Consulting Engineers of Little Rock told board members that Federal Aviation Administration officials green-lighted plans for the airport to go ahead and build a connecting taxiway along the full length of the airport's primary runway. The taxiway's addition would add $6 million to the terminal project, bringing the capital project's overall cost estimation to $26.6 million.
During the meeting, Airport Director Mark Mellinger said the airport is looking at applying for Texarkana, Ark., Advertising and Promotions Commission funds.
Mellinger said the airport will also be conducting its Triennial Full Scale Emergency Response Exercise today, which is required by the Federal Aviation Administration every three years.
Today's mock airplane crash at the airport will be supplemented by other trial security measures and situations.
The airport's police department, as well as the fire departments from both Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Ark., will be involved in the exercise. Other agency participants will include LifeNet and Texarkana College nursing students.
The exercise will call for both the airport's primary and secondary runways to be closed for about 30 minutes, Airport Operations Manager Russell Henderson said.
In other business, Mellinger said that the finishing touches are being put on the airport's primary runway rehabilitation project. This mostly involves raising the runway's night lights to an appropriate level with the runway. The work should be finished in two to three weeks. Once the project is finished, airport officials will be able to apply to the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics for about $700,000 in matching state grant funds to offset some of the project's cost.