CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A lot of people have been asking why airplanes are flying above their homes — not to mention, making them rumble. 

In May, a $36 million project began at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. To jet-setters, this work provides a show while they're waiting to take off. After all, that process is a bit different since BNIA’s main runway, 5-23, is getting a lot of TLC. 

What You Need To Know

  • Crews have 120 days to rehab BNIA's main runway and Alpha taxiway

  • It took a year of planning ahead of construction starting

  • 400 LED lights are being installed 

  • Upgrades should last 20 years per FAA regulations

“We are upgrading the safety,” Andrew Adams, manager of construction at Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority explained. “We are making it safer for the aircraft to take off and land.”

Adams oversees all NFTA projects. To him, this is just another project. It might be. But, what goes into it all, is pretty remarkable. 

For starters, BNIA got the OK for this project last year. From there, officials had to inform all airlines their take-off and landings were going to be a bit shorter. 

“They have to adjust their schedules, adjust their passenger count, the kind of aircraft coming in,” Adams said.

Consultant designs and approvals from the FAA took about eight months.

“And at that point then we can put out bids for the contractors,” Adams said.

Then it’s full speed ahead. They only have 120 days to get the 5,200-foot main runway and Alpha taxiway, which is the same length, done. It’s not like they can just shut the airport down — well kind of.

“So, like the intersection itself, we are doing that work at nights, when there this minimal air traffic,” Rick Hines, resident engineer, NFTA said.

That’s a 9 p.m. - 6 a.m. shift.

“We worked an intersection last weekend, and we had well over 100 people working nights,” Hines said.

These safety upgrades include a new mixture of asphalt. It’s expected to last longer. Crews are putting on four layers. 

“We expect to get a minimum of 20 years out of the runway now,” Adams said.

Four hundred LED lights will guide pilots along runway 5-23. 

“We are doing all the taxiway lights, which are guide lights,” Adams said.

They’ll last longer, and they move up and down.

So, buckle-up Buffalo. At the end of the summer, it will be a smoother and safer taxi. For now, you can wave to your new friends working on the runway.

“There you go, I like that,” Adams smiled at the idea of folks waving to construction workers.

These enhancements should last about 20 years. That’s the period the FAA requires.