Sacramento Airport May Pay up to $25 Million To Raise New Control Tower Height
Sacramento County could be paying up to $25 million to build on the planned height of Sacramento International Airport’s new air traffic control tower. The proposed height increase aims to keep the line-of-sight clear following expansion projects.
The Sacramento County Department of Airports and the Federal Aviation Administration want to raise the proposed tower by 25 feet, making the new height 205 feet above ground level. It’s to accommodate for the eventual expansion of Concourse B, which aims to add six more gates and “would create a brief space where controllers would not be able to see a portion of one of the taxiways,” county airports spokesperson Lindsay Myers said.
“Essentially two construction projects, both still in design, had a small conflict,” Myers said. “The added height solves for this.”
On Tuesday, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution to authorize county staff to negotiate a contract with the FAA to pay for the added height. This and one other SMF agenda item — a resolution to allow the county to lease the planned control tower’s land to the FAA — are both on the consent calendar, meaning they are likely to pass. The tower is going to be situated in an unobstructed site on the airport’s north side near Fire Station 98, which opened in 2022.
The FAA is funding construction, operation and maintenance of the replacement tower, according to county records. However, the airports department would be paying for the height change because it was prompted by another SMF project, Myers said. The up-to-$25 million cost for the increased height would come out of the airport’s enterprise fund.
The airports department anticipates it will eventually return to ask the board to fund a capital improvement project to get utilities, such as water, plumbing and electricity, to the new tower site, according to board documents.
The change in the tower height is not expected to affect the timeline for construction, which is meant to begin summer 2027 and continue through February 2030, Myers said.
Tower history
The new air traffic control tower is meant to replace a nearly 60-year-old one, which has operational and accessibility limitations, according to the airports department. The current tower, opened in 1967, is located just south of Terminal B, just off Airport Boulevard West and is about 175 feet above ground level, according to an FAA environmental document.
According to 2015 Bee reporting, the current tower had outdated electrical wiring, lacked accessibility for employees with disabilities and did not meet modern security setback or California earthquake-safety standards. The construction of Terminal B also partially obstructed air traffic controllers’ views of two taxiways.
The new tower will have better security due to limited public access near Earhart Drive and Delta Road, which border the land where the tower will be built.
It is also meant to provide better views. Eye level could be about 55 feet higher in the new tower than the current one, if the new height is approved.
The FAA selected a site for a new SMF control tower in 2009, marking the beginning of the replacement effort. In 2023, Sacramento County estimated the tower would cost $60 million to $80 million and said construction was expected to be completed in 2026. The construction contract awarded last month totals nearly doubled the high end of that estimate — $148.8 million — and the work will likely run into 2030.
The FAA did not respond to questions as of the time of publication.
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