REDMOND, OR -- After nearly three weeks of runway paving work, the Redmond Airport will reopen to air traffic, as scheduled, on Monday. Mayor George Endicott says he and other city officials toured the project, earlier this week. "We actually, while we were on our tour, they poured their last bit of pavement. We didn’t arrange it that way, but we actually watched them pour the last piece of pavement. So, they’re done. Friday they’re out of there; Monday the airport will open." Roberts Field closed at the beginning of the month so crews could repave a section where the two runways intersect.

Endicott says during the closure, crews took advantage of a relatively empty terminal to complete work inside, as well. "If you go upstairs, the restaurant is, I think, tripled; we’ve done a deep clean on everything. It’s been a few years since we built the terminal, so all the carpets, the tile, fresh paint – Some of that you’re not going to notice, per se. And, all these tests - the live fire exercises and everything, that gave everyone an opportunity to do things that we wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise."

While work on that runway intersection is complete, the full project will continue into summer. "We will still be using the auxiliary runway until we finish the main runway, which is still a couple of months out," Endicott tells KBND News. "But, the closure all had to do with fixing the intersection, and that’s done."