Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday will reopen a closed track that has contributed to weeks of delays and chaos in the travel center.
The Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, will direct a press conference from the airport on Monday to mark the reopening of the track.
The 4L-22R track, which has 11,000 feet long, has undergone a “planned rehabilitation” after showing “significant wear signs” and now the standards of the Federal Aviation Administration have already been considered safe, according to a statement by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates to the Newark airport.
It had last rehabilitated in 2014, and the tracks are usually updated approximately every 10 years, according to the statement.
According to the statement, the $ 121 million project began in early March and would end on June 15. The project included “Fill and pave the surface of the track, update the lighting, improve the signals of the airfield with LED lighting, install a new underground electrical infrastructure and implement drainage improvements.”
Before it closed completely on April 15, the track was closed the nights and on weekends to accommodate the construction schedule. To ensure that the track is completely renewed by the end of the year, the Port Authority said it will continue to close the weekends and again at the end of the year.
However, Monday’s reopening will allow the “regular operations of the track track to resume,” said the statement. During the planned future closures of the 4L-22R track, two other clues at the airport will remain completely operational.
“As we approach the busy summer trip season, this key milestone puts us on a way to further reduce congestion, improve security and guarantee a perfect travel experience,” Duffy said in the declaration of the port authority. “With the completed track, we will continue our work to harden the telecommunications infrastructure and improve the personnel pipe for airspace.”
The construction of the planned track was not the only reason why passengers who enter and leave Newark have faced this spring.
The air traffic controllers that serve the airport have experienced a series of communications blackouts while directing airplanes in the area in recent months due to equipment failures, which caused FAA on May 20 to reduce the amount of flights to and from Newark until the construction of the planned track was complete.
“Our goal is to alleviate the substantial inconvenience for the itinerant public of excessive flight delays due to construction, personnel challenges and recent equipment problems, which are extended as they extend through the National Air Space System,” said the interim administrator of the FAA, Chris Rocheleau, at the time of the announcement.
