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If you live on the westside here's why you may hear more airplane noise lately

Runway is under reconstruction
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Posted at 1:52 PM, May 19, 2022
and last updated 2022-05-20 10:15:36-04

INDIANAPOLIS—If you live on the west side of Indianapolis, you may have noticed more airplane noise lately.

That’s because one of the main runways for the Indianapolis International Airport is under reconstruction.

In a Facebook post this week, City County Councilor Jared Evans said he has received calls and emails from constituents regarding the increase in airplanes flying over their homes when they usually don’t.

From now to approximately late October 2022, the runway will be closed temporarily for reconstruction, according to the Indianapolis Airport Authority.

“The runway (23L/5R) began operations in 1989 and, in the more than three decades of its use, has been appropriately maintained and rehabilitated,” read the IAA statement. “However, now the pavement has reached the end of its useful life and requires reconstruction. As a result, aircraft will be using the airport’s runways (23R/5L) and (14/32).”

The increased use of these runways may cause some citizens to notice more aircraft in the skies near their home or place of business, IAA said in its statement.

To reach the IAA regarding a noise complaint, you can call317.487.5000.

The reconstruction will be funded in part by a massive $56 million grant to be used for airfield improvements at the airport, the nation’s largest allotment of recent Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program funding.

“This is the crown jewel among the collection of grants the IAA is set to receive,” said IAA Executive Director Mario Rodriguez. “It’s the largest single grant in our airport’s history, and the largest allotment among the nation’s airports in the FAA’s latest AIP funding round.”

In total the FAA announced grant awards of more than $431.8 million on Sept. 21 to build safer, more sustainable and more accessible airports across the United States, the airport said in a September news release.

The funding is for the final round of Fiscal Year 2021 Airport Improvement Program grants and will pay for projects at 60 airports in 31 states plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.