Runway rehabilitation starts at Buffalo Niagara International Airport

Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - Construction has begun on Runway 5-23 at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. The NFTA says flights will arrive and depart as scheduled with a different runway in use.

Russ Stark with the NFTA says runway construction began last month to get ahead of the game. Based on changes by contractors, the majority of the work will start next week.

"Some taxiway work and some work in the runway safety areas, and it's a lot of prep work that's going on to get us ready for the closures, the heart closures coming up in August," said Stark in an interview with WBEN.

Despite the hard closure of Runway 5-23, Stark says this will not affect flight operations at the airport as flights will taken off and land at Runway 1432. He does note it will lead to more important communication.

"If we do have a larger aircraft come in, during the month of July, we'll hold the construction so that aircraft can get in or out," Stark said.

However, he notes it's on a case-by-case basis to avoid too much disruption.

Stark says he anticipates some noise complaints from neighbors.

"Everybody's got the windows open. It's summertime, it's beautiful weather here in Western New York, but it'll be for a very short duration," Stark explained.

To avoid that as much as possible, Stark says crews won't work on weekends. He does ask for residents' patience.

The hard closure will remain in place until Oct. 1, when it returns to overnight closures until Nov. 1.