Input on Selawik Airport improvements sought

Situated 65 nautical miles southeast of the regional hub at Kotzebue, Ralph Wien Memorial Airport, the state-owned Selawik Airport is operated by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and much in need of improvements, as time and weather have taken their toll on the runway surfaces. Planners have been studying the airport and developing options for improvements. Four different alternatives are under consideration and planners are presently seeking input from pilots who use the airport. Selawik is one of the few airports in the area that has a crosswind runway. Whether to keep the crosswind runway is perhaps the major issue, and the reason state officials are reaching out to the general aviation community for feedback. If the crosswind runway is not needed, material will be harvested from that runway to reconstruct the remaining runway given the lack of suitable material in the area.

The four alternatives were presented at public meetings in October; descriptions and diagrams are available online. If you use the Selawik Airport, please review the four alternatives and let DOWL, the contractor conducting the study, know if the crosswind runway is important to you, and the alternative you prefer. Comments may be submitted via email and are requested by February 28. More information is available on the planning website, and another public meeting is planned for this spring.