Redwood City – The Half Moon Bay Airport will close to all air traffic beginning next week for repaving and other improvements.
The airport will be closed from Monday, Aug. 14 through Friday, Aug. 18 so workers can fill cracks, apply a slurry seal and paint new pavement markings on the runway.
“Just like the street in front of your house, our runways over time get typical wear and tear and need some care,” said Gretchen Kelly airport manager with County’s Department of Public Works, which operates both the Half Moon Bay and San Carlos airports. “It’s just that our ‘street’ requires us to move some planes around.”
While the airport will be closed to all air traffic, on-site businesses, including the Pilot Light Café at Half Moon Bay, will remain open during their regular business hours.
The Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to maintain runways and taxiways in a safe condition and is funding 90 percent of the project costs, which are approximately $13 million. The remainder is covered by airport user and business fees.
The Half Moon Bay Airport, built in 1942 for the U.S. Army, is home to about 80 aircraft and several aviation-related businesses. It also provides a number of emergency response services such as Medivac flights, security patrols and Coast Guard sea-rescue operations.
Following the work in Half Moon Bay, the San Carlos Airport will be closed from Monday, Sept. 11 until Tuesday, Oct. 11, to fix significant pavement edge cracking on the runway and taxiway connectors. Maintenance work also includes stabilizing the soil in the infields, improving drainage, replacing lighting, signs and other electrical equipment and finally sealing and restriping the runways.
Following the full closure, periodic taxiway closures or night closures may be necessary for up to 30 more days but access to hangars and routes to and from the runway will remain open for daytime operations. Businesses including the Sky Kitchen restaurant will remain open throughout construction as will the control tower.
The San Carlos Airport was built in 1948 and is home to approximately 500 aircraft and more than 25 aviation-related businesses. Last year, the airport generated more than 100,000 aircraft operations, half of which were business-related or revenue-generating. Like Half Moon Bay, the San Carlos Airport also provides emergency services.
Questions should be directed to airports@smcgov.org or the airport administrative office at 650-573-3700.
Michelle Durand
Chief Communications Officer
mdurand@smcgov.org