From the Flight Deck

The end is finally near, and with it a renewed beginning. Phase 2 of the Marshfield Municipal Airport safety improvement project is about to get underway.

In 2014, Phase 1 took shape when the new runway extended to 3,900 feet in length by 100 feet wide, a significant safety improvement to its 3,000 by 75-foot predecessor, reports Shoreline Aviation, the airport’s fixed base operator.

Part of Phase 1’s focus was environmental. Bass Creek was restored along with other wetland habitat restoration initiatives including adding turtle nesting habitat.

In Phase 2, the ramp – or the open paved area where aircraft park, load, fuel, tie down, and traverse to access the runway area – will be removed and replaced. This project is part of the Land Use with Higher Potential Pollutant Loads (LUHPPL) initiative, a conditional order to the runway extension. It is a complete reconstruction and improvement of the main ramp to its borders with Taxiway Alpha, and it is essential to ensure continued operational safety and environmental compliance.

Work is set to begin on June 2, when initial staging will begin. It could be a week before actual demolition starts. The project is expected to take up to 12 weeks.

Marshfield Municipal Airport’s ramp will be replaced.

Construction will temporarily upend conditions for tenants in Hangars 1-12, who won’t be able to operate their planes across the ramp during this time. Their aircraft will be grounded unless other accommodations are found for a few weeks.

Aircraft owners and charter clients are asked to park in front of the terminal building on Old Colony Lane, and Shoreline personnel will transport them through Gate 1 (the first gate coming down the lane) to access hangars and departure locations. The normal access at Gate 2 (next to the terminal) will be closed during the project.

After the main ramp is done, then the Gate 1 access road to the east ramp will be done, along with that ramp.

“LUHPPL” means area where the land use has the potential to generate highly contaminated runoff, with concentrations of pollutants in excess of those typically found in stormwater, according to LawInsider.com.

This safety improvement project was initiated in 2002 and went through a long series of public hearings and permitting steps with the Airport Commission, the Marshfield Conservation Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, Mass Audubon, Coastal Zone Management, MassDOT Aeronautics Division, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the FAA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and others.