SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Despite another windy rainmaker arriving late Monday night, San Francisco International Airport is going ahead with a planned shutdown of its shortest runway for repaving.
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Officials hope to have it done in time for the busy summer travel season.
Runways usually last about 10 to 12 years before they need a touch-up, the one getting repaved has lasted a bit longer, likely because it's only used for short takeoffs and there weren’t many during the pandemic.
Now, the runway will be closed until Memorial Day.
According to SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel, this eight-week window is usually the time that maintenance like this is done.
Normally, there isn't a lot of rain during this window.
"We don't want it to move into the summer travel season – because it is busier, there are more flights, and we want to have all of our runways available during that time period," said Yakel.
"I guess the good part is it's not just repaving," he said. "You think about when do you need it dry, you do need it dry for the repaving, but the first portion of this work is actually grinding down the current surface layer."
"So that's something we can still do even if there's moisture," said Yakel.
SFO's passenger load is hovering around 85% of what it was before the pandemic, with the biggest hit being among international travelers.
But now that travel restrictions have been dropping in the Pacific, a summer bounce back is expected.
This means all of the runways need to be up and ready to go by then.
A single runway closure likely won’t cause delays, but two primary ones will absorb the additional traffic.
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