Airport modernization project impacts to be felt this summer

A lot needs to be done before the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport can close for runway and terminal construction in 2027, including the staging of construction materials and the moving of utilities and a road. 

The runway and terminal construction are slated to begin sometime roughly in the range of April through November 2027 – exact dates are still being determined. Some of the “enabling projects,” which will need to be done before the airport construction can begin, will need to start this year as crews gear up for the bigger terminal modernization and the runway relocation and reconstruction. 

GR Fielding of Jacobsen Daniels, a consulting firm working with Pitkin County on the modernization project, delivered an update to the Airport Advisory Board on Thursday, Feb. 19. He highlighted some of the near-term projects that need to be completed, including an Owl Creek Road relocation. 

“We do have a lot of things that need to shift because the ‘Runway Object Free Area’ moves to the west, so we have to get everything out of that area,” Fielding told the board on Thursday.

The “Runway Object Free Area” is a buffer zone around the runway mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration. It will need to be shifted from its current location to accommodate the runway relocation. This means Owl Creek Road and Owl Creek Trail, to the west of the runway, will need to be shifted further west, along with all utility lines running underneath the road. 

“We’ve gone through and done a lot of coordination work with the (Owl Creek Road) utilities,” Fielding said. “We have several relocations that we’re going to need to do in 2026, including the water main that services (the Airport Operations Center), fiber optic, electrical and a couple of other things that will get upgraded through the (parking) lot that feeds onto the airfield … We hope that we’ll be able to do this in the summer of 2026.”

The Airport Operations Center parking lot, which is directly off Owl Creek Road, will also need to be shifted. 

The Owl Creek work, which is targeted for completion by the end of this summer, will cause temporary traffic changes. In a past meeting, an alternating one-way pattern on Owl Creek Road was discussed as a likely solution during construction. 

“(Owl Creek Road) is not going to be completely closed, but it may be down to one lane at times this summer with flaggers or lights,” Ryan Mahoney, deputy county manager for Pitkin County, told Aspen City Councilors and Pitkin County Commissioners at a joint meeting of the two boards on Feb. 9. 

In addition to the Owl Creek Road and Trail relocation, the airport will begin staging construction materials for the 2027 work. Staff are aiming to ensure the staging is done as efficiently as possible to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and traffic interruptions caused by heavy machinery and materials moving on Highway 82. 

To do this, the airport will be re-establishing a northern entrance to the airport to avoid a “pinch point” further south on Highway 82. 

Exact dates for all of the work are not yet established.