Courtesy Photo Large trucks and bulldozers work to demolish one of the runways at the Alpena County Regional Airport.

ALPENA — The price tag for the runway reconstruction project at the Alpena County Regional Airport has jumped by about $2 million, airport officials said on Wednesday.

The total price of the project will now be about $15 million and the county is utilizing a large portion of the nearly $18 million the airport received from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

According to Airport Manager Steve Smigelski, a layer of the runway referred to as a bond breaker — which helps prevent the concrete from sticking to the asphalt — needs to be removed and replaced. He said a strip of runway 5,700 feet long and 150 feet wide will need to be done and the work will bump up the price significantly.

Smigelski said the current bond breaker has been in place for about 30 years.

“We were hoping we could just take the top eight inches of concrete off, but now we will have to take the three inches of asphalt out, too,” Smigelski said. “We weren’t counting on it, but it will all have to be replaced.”

The runway project has led air service provider SkyWest Airlines to pause its flights in and out of Alpena until the main runway reopens.

Smigelski said the project will include work on the intersection of two runways, requiring the closure of both runways at the airport on June 22. The secondary runway is expected to reopen on July 1 and the main runway is expected to reopen by July 17.

While the intersection is closed, the airport will be able to accept helicopters only.

“The project is right on schedule, despite two hiccups,” Smigelski said.

The current runway project is the only one that is in the pipeline. During an Alpena Economic Development Committee meeting on Wednesday, Smigelski provided an update on proposed projects over the next several years.

This year, the airport is purchasing a pair of runway plows for about $1.2 million. They are utilizing funds from the federal Airport Improvement Program.

The years 2025 and 2026 are lining up to be chock full of projects at the airport. The rehabilitation of a pair of taxiways are planned, as is the construction of a new hangar. In 2026, a new snow removal equipment storage building could be built and another hangar may also be in the cards.

Smigelski said adding amenities and improving the infrastructure at the airport will make it more appealing to private plane owners and charters. He said the more planes that come and go from Alpena means more revenue for the county from fuel purchases and landing fees.

There will also be benefits to local merchants, as more people fly to the area for vacations or short visits.

“All of these projects are geared toward improving our general aviation traffic,” he said. “We want people to be able to have their own hangars and buy fuel. We get transient traffic that comes in for long weekends and that helps the local economy. We would really like to capture more of that.”