May 23—The Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport is preparing to move forward with repairs to its deteriorating main runway.
The repairs, expected to cost $667,115, will address one area of the runway where pavement is sinking and collecting water, and another area where it's crumbling. The deteriorating pavement is caused by a culvert and a concrete-encased electrical conduit that run under the runway.
The repairs will take about 20 hours and are scheduled for early June, according to a county news release. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday awarded the project contract to Santa Rosa-based Granite Construction.
The need for repairs was flagged by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector during an annual inspection in January.
The problems were first made public in an April Press Democrat investigation about deteriorating runway conditions and airport safety issues.
On Tuesday, the board chair, Supervisor David Rabbitt, said the repairs had long been planned for when the rainy season ended.
He called media coverage about the runway conditions "a little unfair."
County officials have maintained they have been proactive on the repairs since the inspection.
However, The Press Democrat found that problems with disintegrating pavement on the main runway have been documented by the county as far back as December 2022, well before the January inspection.
The majority of the runway has not been repaved since 2001, and a major repavement project, with an estimated cost of $42 million, is at least four years off, according to county officials.
You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or [email protected]. On Twitter @MurphReports.
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