Bid awarded for Marion County Airport expansion project

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners has approved a recommendation for an engineering consulting firm to offer its services for the Marion County Airport’s project to create two new taxiways.

Oviedo-based Hoyle, Tanner & Associates Inc. was awarded the $455,000 contract after receiving a recommendation from a selection committee. The firm beat out another bidder, Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc., a partner of the Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership frequently hired by the county for services related to projects and development.

The $455,000 for the project will come from the Marion County Airport Fund and was approved in the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 budget. At this time, no information has been released about the estimated timeline for construction of the project.

The airport, located at 14968 SW 110th St., Dunnellon, will undergo construction to create two new taxiways, which will be parallel to the two existing runways. A taxiway is a strip that allows aircraft to move to or from a runway without obstructing the takeoff or landing of other planes on the runway.

Taxiway alpha will be 5,000 feet long and run the entire length of runway 5-23; taxiway bravo will be 3,291 feet long and run only part of the length of the other, runway 10-28.

“In the current airfield configuration, landing and departing aircraft are required to back taxi,  which increases the time that aircraft are on the runway, decreasing the operational efficiency of the airfield,” according to the procurement services department of Marion County, which crafted the specifications for the bid.

The Marion County Airport is also an uncontrolled airfield, meaning that there is no tower for air traffic control that informs pilots what planes are taxiing, taking off or landing on the runway. Pilots in flight must pass over to visually check the runways or communicate with other pilots through the radio.