New airport enters phase five

It’s been more than 10 years in the making, has been through it’s ups and downs and has been a source of controversy in the eyes of the community, but the new Hot Springs County Airport is just months away from accepting its first landing.

During a final walk through for phases III and IV with the state inspector from the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division, the county commissioners and GDA Engineering last Friday morning, the goal is to have the new airport up and running by October 15.

Phase V is just getting underway, but before long there will be hangars on site as well as the SRE building which will house not only a lounge for incoming pilots, but snow removal equipment and other maintenance equipment for the facility.

Lighting, navigation aids and a weather station will begin installation in June with final seal coats for the runway and taxiways as well as markings for pilots will be done starting in August.

More than a million yards of dirt were moved to get to this point. Two years were spent studying the winds to decide which way the take-offs and landings should go. Water rights and how to ensure surrounding properties’ water remained intact were studied.

By the time everything is said and done, there will be a cistern for water, electricity throughout the site, phone service and internet connection.

Throughout the construction, not much could be seen from the road if you drove by. The visual impacts in the area, including those to surrounding property owners, were very minimal.

New signage on the highway where the entrance for the airport is will be installed over the summer, which will have solar lighting to save on electricity costs.